THURSDAY, APRIL 20, 2000
Council committee endorses abatement for Taiho
By Erik Burriss
Staff Writer
The City Council's Law and Community Planning Committee recommended approval of one tax-abatement agreement and the cancelation of another Wednesday.
The committee also heard about a proposed zoning change for some property owned by Tiffin University.
"We have unanimously approved to help Taiho expand in our community," 4th Ward Councilman and committee chairman Mike Grandillo said. The agreement will go before the council and the Seneca County Board of Commissioners for final approval.
The Seneca Industrial and Economic Development Corp.'s Karen Bowers told the committee that Taiho was requesting a 100 percent abatement of personal property taxes over 10 years for new investment totaling more than $2 million.
"This is in direct relation to the expansion project they alluded to when they requested to purchase land," Bowers said.
Last month, City Council approved the sale of a lot in the NorthStar Industrial Park to Taiho for $112,982. While the new agreement does not mention any new construction, "This is phase one of a phased expansion over the next three years," Bowers said. "It's a very exciting time for them."
The agreement is for taxes on equipment and inventory needed to open two new production lines: one for engine bearings and one for thrust washers. Seven full-time jobs -- with a payroll of about $140,000 -- are to be added over the next two years.
The abatement is estimated to save Taiho $204,000 over 10 years. Of the savings, about $81,000 -- 40 percent -- will be donated to the city's schools.
Meanwhile, the committee also recommended that the council void a tax-abatement agreement the city has with Fibercel Inc., a company no longer doing business in Tiffin.
"Council approved a similar agreement for Fibercel," Mayor Bernie Hohman said, "but they never really got going. They're not even operating in Ohio."
Following the Fibercel vote, Grandillo turned the meeting over to At-large Councilman Mark Hayes for discussion of a zoning change proposed by Tiffin University. Grandillo is a the university's vice president of development.
Hohman said the university would like zoning classification of some property it owns changed from single-family residential to multiple-family residential.
"In R-4, you can build dorms and things like that," Hohman said. "That way as they develop, they won't have to get variances."
R-4 is the zoning classification of the actual university, while some properties it owns are rental units that are in a single-family dwelling zone .
Although the Planning Commission would also have to agree to a zoning change, Hohman said, "I think the planning commission can support a logical extension of R-4. It makes it a lot easier and it makes sense."