
PUBLIC COMMENT Rick Tressler addresses the Delta Village Council during their meeting Monday
By: Jesse Davis
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
jesse@thevillagereporter.com
The fate of the Community Reinvestment Areas in Delta was again the point of contentious conversation during Monday’s meeting of the Delta Village Council.
The CRA – a tax abatement zone offering all applicants a 100 percent, 10-year tax abatement on developments or improvements – has been a source of frustration for Village Administrator Andy Glenn, who said undeveloped areas should be removed from the CRA so the village can have greater power of negotiation in how much taxes may be eased for new developments.
It was previously believed that changing the boundaries of the CRA would qualify as an amendment to it, and would put everything in the CRA under the newer rules enacted in 1994, but Glenn said he had discovered it would not. The post-1994 rules allow for the negotiation of both the rate and length of the abatement given.
Glenn has proposed using tax increment financing (TIF) districts for new developments, particularly residential developments, in place of a CRA.
Through a TIF district, the village could fund and manage the installation of infrastructure for a project, then receive a portion of the property taxes collected from properties in the district for a certain amount of time in order to reimburse the village.
As school board approval is required for any TIF district in which the local government intends to capture 75 percent or more of the increased tax collection for 10 years or longer, Glenn attended March meeting of the Pike-Delta-York Local School District Board of Education to discuss their possible use. He said board members were “very receptive.”
Among those not pleased with Glenn’s comments on the subject is former mayor Dan Miller. According to council member Lynn Frank, Miller was “very, very, very, very, very, very upset” by Glenn’s statement at the last meeting that there was “no foresight” when the CRAs were put into place.
She said Miller plans to address the council on the matter at a future meeting. Miller served as mayor from Jan. 1, 2008, through Dec. 31, 2019.
“Everybody’s entitled to their opinion,” Glenn said during his response to the statement.
Council members requested an updated packet of information taking into account all the changes and new information as well as a series of updated maps showing the current lines of village CRAs, the proposed updated lines, plus any other changes or proposals intended to be part of the village’s development plans.
Having tabled the matter during their last meeting, council members chose to leave it tabled while they wait on the additional information.
NEW VILLAGE LOGO
Following input at a prior meeting where he presented new village uniform shirts and proposed updating the village logo at the same time, Glenn again presented an update on the project he initiated.
Among comments from other council members, Frank shared her consternation with the effort broadly, saying it wasn’t something that had already been budgeted for and that there were more important things to be considering than “uniforms and a logo on a truck.”
She also shared her general disagreement with the idea of uniforms for council members in any scenario. Glenn agreed to speak with Cintas and get more concrete numbers regarding cost, but called the redesign and uniform purchase “incredibly inexpensive.” Any vote on the matter was pushed off until Glenn returns with the information.
OTHER BUSINESS
The council declined to vote on a proposition to rent unused kitchen space in the village administration building to a resident for her business, requesting that resident appear in person to answer their questions first.
The council approved changes to the job description for the village tax administrator, adding the title of assistant finance director.
Included among the additions are to serve as clerk for the council, which was also added to the job description for the finance director.
The council also approved changes to the utility clerk position, which now reports directly to the village administrator and is responsible for investigating excessive bills and leak detection.
Police Chief Robert Austin reported his department received a $9,250.38 grant from the Ohio Office of Criminal Justice Services for the purchase of 10 new body cameras with three-year warrantees and a docking station.
The council approved an updated list of wage ranges for several positions within the village, including in administration and the street, water, and park departments.
The council ended the public portion of the meeting by going into executive session “to consider the investigation of charges or complaints against a public employee or public official.” No action was expected as a result of the session.
The next regular meeting of the council will be held at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, April 1, at 401 Main Street in Delta.