Chillicothe is eyeing a tax-sharing arrangement with neighboring Green Township that development officials say would bring new revenue streams to each community and spur business investment in the area.
Setting up a Joint Economic Development District, like the one on 600 acres near Rickenbacker International Airport, could be structured to extend utilities and provide income-tax revenue to the 4,500-population Green Township, said Chris Manegold, CEO of the Economic Development Alliance of Southern Ohio.
The city of Chillicothe, 50 miles south of Columbus, would earn a source of revenue outside the city limits without annexing the land, Manegold said.
“It preempts annexation, which is always a contentious issue,” he told me. “What really brings it to the forefront is just that Chillicothe is exploding right now (with) manufacturing and health care.”
Kenworth Truck Co. and its suppliers employ thousands in the area.
No action has been taken to create a development district, Manegold said, but the Economic Development Alliance of Southern Ohio will host a meeting on Sept. 15 to brief the public.
The JEDD 101 session will feature Chris Schmenk, an attorney with Bricker & Eckler LLP in Columbus and former director of the state Department of Development Services Agency.
From Columbus Business First | August 31, 2015
