The Solon Board of Education recently approved an innovative compensation agreement with the city and a developer that may be the first of its kind in the state, Cleveland.com reports. Solon City Schools Superintendent Fred Bolden called the agreement “revolutionary” and said it “sets a new standard for balancing educational needs with community growth,” according to the article. The developer, JJJ Real Estate, “is a limited liability company that RHM Real Estate Group of Lyndhurst has formed” in connection with a proposed mixed-use development of the former Liberty Ford site, which Bolden described as “a blighted area.” The developer proposes “to use tax increment financing [TIF], which is basically a loan against future tax payments for the next 30 years,” Bolden said.
The unusual agreement “establishes the compensation to be received by the district in consideration of its approval and waiver of certain conditions related to the expected 30-year tax increment financing (TIF) exemption.” Bolden said the “financially creative approach,” which “took nearly two years” to negotiate, “distributes the responsibility among all community stakeholders.” The plan “includes provisions to protect the school district’s funding from potential negative impacts of a new mixed-use development” and establishes “a cascading responsibility structure for covering costs associated with increased student enrollment, shared among the city, developers, and schools.” Bolden said the “collaborative abatement structure” balances costs “among the schools, the city, property taxes, and future business growth, along with a base contribution and a contingency contribution from the developer.” He called it a “win-win” and said, “we have not been able to find another (tax) abatement agreement of this nature in all of Ohio.” For more, read the full article (subscription may be required).
