Committee reviewing public subsidies tied to development

FINDLAY — Findlay's Strategic Planning Committee will take a closer look next week at whether public subsidies tied to private development benefit the city. The committee will meet at 4 p.m., May 20, in the Findlay Municipal Building, 318 Dorney Plaza, for a presentation by Andrew Brossart, a municipal financial advisor hired by the city, on how Community Reinvestment Areas (CRAs) and Tax Increment Financing Districts (TIFs) function and how they are used in Ohio. All committee meetings are open to the public, and Strategic Planning Committee meetings are livestreamed on the city's YouTube channel: Findlay Ohio. CRAs let the city reduce property taxes on new development. A TIF works differently: it keeps the growth in property tax value created by new development. The money is then used to help pay for roads, utilities and other public improvements. At its April 21 meeting, the committee voted to recommend that Mayor Christina Muryn work with Brossart to provide additional information on how post-1994 CRAs operate and how they benefit the city. The question has taken on added weight as council continues its review of the Shady Grove annexation and a developer's plan to seek a 75%, 15-year post-1994 CRA to build a 480-unit apartment complex on the property. The golf course is currently part of Marion Township along U.S. 224 on the city's east side. The project would require "M-2 Multi-Family High Density" zoning, a classification recommended by both council's Planning and Zoning Committee and the City Planning Commission. When council updated Findlay's pre-1994 Community Reinvestment Area in 2025, that was the last update allowed under state law. The new map pulled in all land that had already been annexed, and it locked the boundary in place going forward. Because the city can't amend a pre-'94 CRA again, any property annexed after that update — including the Shady Grove site — can't be added to the old, automatic program. Those parcels can only use a post-'94 CRA, which requires a negotiated agreement and limits the abatement unless the schools sign off. That's why the city is now talking about creating a post-'94 CRA for Shady Grove. During council's April 21 meeting, concerns were raised about the tax incentive and the broader issue of development that depends on public subsidies. Councilman Rodney Phillips, R-6, who said he will vote against the annexation, tied his opposition directly to the incentive request. "When I vote no, it'll be for the dollars and cents of it related to the city … I just think at the end of the day, this is a real estate deal, and I don't know that the pot is sweet enough for me to vote yes," he said. Councilman BJ Preston, R-2, separated the land-use question from the incentive debate, saying he supports bringing the property into the city but not at the proposed density. "I am fully in favor of bringing this property into the city … I, however, am not in support of multifamily, and I think we really need to consider the zoning on this," he said. Residents continue to raise concerns about traffic and safety on Township Road 237, longstanding flooding issues, water-pressure limitations, emergency-response access and how additional density would affect roads and infrastructure. Several described years of flooding on their properties and said that adding pavement and rooftops would worsen conditions downstream. Ordinances approving both the annexation and the zoning are scheduled to receive a second reading at council's next regular meeting on Tuesday. Council will meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the city building. All council meetings are open to the public and are livestreamed on YouTube. If approved, the annexation would make way for a 40-acre, high-amenity "lifestyle" apartment development by Vision Companies of Columbus. The concept includes multiple pools, ponds, courts and other recreational features, with green space planned between the creek and the Brookstone subdivision. The update outlines a six-year, two-phase buildout totaling 480 units — 222 in Phase 1 and 258 in Phase 2 — with construction costs of about $44.5 million and $50 million, respectively. Rent projections average $1,400 to $2,000. The Strategic Planning Committee is chaired by Councilwoman Heather Kensinger, R-at large, and includes council members Nichole Coleman, R-1; Brad Wagner, R-at large; BJ Preston, R-2; and Carol Smith, R-3, and the mayor. Matt Cordonnier, director of the Hancock Regional Planning Commission, and Auditor Jim Staschiak serve as ex officio members.