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LETTER to The Editor of The Plain Dealer, 11-11-07, by Joseph W. Kunzelman
``Who will stand up to preserve more land?
In response to the Oct. 17 [2007 PD] article "Farming done here from now, forever":
Thank you, Jarvis Babcock and family, for the generous, unselfish gift of 1,018 acres that surely would have been destroyed by developers.
I live in Avon. We have seen judges and city administrators allow aggressive developers to carve our city up like a big, fat turkey: "Ah, more retail. This will solve all our problems." These self-centered, power-hungry individuals and companies have destroyed acre after acre of woods and trees while driving our last little bit of wildlife up on to Interstate 90 to be slaughtered.
Did anyone really think that the I-90/[Nagel] Road interchange was not going to happen? Does anyone honestly believe that this will not continue to open the door for more businesses and residents to leave Cleveland, Lorain and the inner-ring suburbs?
Unfortunately, nobody has the guts or the money to stop this travesty.
Where are the Babcocks of Avon and the rest of Northeast Ohio?''
Joseph W. Kunzelman, Avon
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[Regarding the impact of the Nagel Rd. interchange, one of the most important things is to NOT DESTROY Detroit Road. The key to solving that problem is having alternative ways to go from Jaycox to Nagel, besides Detroit: south marginal -- Middleton - Avon Rd.; north marginal -- Chester - Clemens; both interchange marginals opening on Bradley.]
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NEWS ARTICLE from The Plain Dealer, 11-3-07, by Joan Mazzolini, Plain Dealer Reporter
``Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals compete with their expanding medical centers
Cleveland's two huge hospital systems are in a competitive game of leapfrog, hopping from one suburb to the next in pursuit of the well-insured patients ...
But it's an expensive endeavor to chase patients, or try to poach them from other hospital systems.
And the recent moves have the two Cleveland systems butting up against other hospital systems in Summit and Lorain counties that don't seem that pleased by the closeness.
"There are four hospitals that are in Lorain County and none operating at capacity," said Jim Simone, vice president of finance for EMH Regional Health Care System. The Elyria hospital will be celebrating its 100th anniversary next year.
Simone said the Clinic's plans for a new big medical facility in Avon will "make it difficult for all of us to survive."
"There's not a need for it," Simone said. "We don't need more facilities. There's only so many chest X-rays you can do, even if you put X-ray machines on every corner." ...''
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: jmazzolini@plaind.com
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NEWS ARTICLE from The Plain Dealer, 12-25-07, by Michael Scott, Plain Dealer Reporter
[Smog Sprawl]
``AVON -- As development spreads, bad air follows, critics say Smog sprawl - it could be coming soon to a suburb near you.
Smog sprawl is the environmental notion that air pollution trails after residential and industrial development as it surges out from the city center to once-rural suburbia and beyond.
In other words, as we move out to the country, we drive longer and farther to get to work, we pump out more pollutants along the way and foul up the fresh air we drove out there for in the first place ...
[Northeast Ohio] is already under federal mandate to reduce air pollution -- both ozone and particulates -- by 2009, putting virtually every transportation or commercial/industrial development decision under an increasingly detailed environmental microscope.
But there's not always a clear-cut answer when balancing the transportation needs of one growing community with the broader concerns of the region.
That's why planners have to consider, for example, whether the privately funded and fast-tracked interchange to be built in Avon will add to air pollution in that Lorain County suburb -- and the entire region.
Critics are certain that it will.
"This is a community where they're putting in a new interchange and where they're planning low-density, automobile-dependent land use," said David Beach, director of the Center for Regional Sustainability of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. "That's hardly a sustainable approach in an age of climate change and scarcity of energy resources." ...
The city's population surged from about 7,000 to more than 17,000 in just more than a decade. Further, it ranked as the 67th-fastest growing community in the nation from 2000-07, Mayor James Smith said. The community already has two I-90 exits: Ohio 611 on the western end and Ohio 83 near the center ...''
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: mscott@plaind.com
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NEWS ARTICLE from The Plain Dealer, 1-26-08, by Joan Mazzolini, Plain Dealer Reporter
``Clinic loses battle with Beachwood schools for records in tax case
The Cleveland Clinic must turn over financial information that the Beachwood Board of Education requested to make its case that the hospital's Cedar Road facility should not be exempted from property taxes, the Board of Tax Appeals ruled yesterday ...
The board's decision should move forward a case that has languished for two years, after the Clinic appealed the Ohio tax commissioner's decision that the property is taxable.
The commissioner ruled that the Clinic's Cedar Road facility was an office building for physicians where little if any charitable care is provided and that it is not eligible for a property tax exemption.
The Beachwood schools had challenged the Clinic's request for property tax exemption. Ohio law allows school districts, which receive the bulk of property taxes, to challenge exemptions.
Districts with large Clinic facilities, such as Independence, Willoughby- Eastlake and Solon, have followed Beachwood's lead. The outcome of the Beachwood case will affect their challenges ...''
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: jmazzolini@plaind.com
NEWS ARTICLE from The Plain Dealer, 6-25-08, by Joan Mazzolini, Plain Dealer Reporter
``Cleveland Clinic expected to get more than $1 billion in bonds to pay off old debt and to finance new facilities
The Cleveland Clinic is expected to get approval today from a state agency to issue more than $1 billion in bonds to pay off old debt and to finance the new Avon and Twinsburg facilities.
The $1.02 billion in bonds would be issued through the Ohio Higher Education Facility Commission. A change in state law allows the commission to issue the low-interest bonds for nonprofit hospitals just as it does for nonprofit Ohio colleges and universities ...
About $120 million will go to facilities the Clinic plans to build in Avon and Twinsburg ...``
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: jmazzolini@plaind.com, 216-999-4563
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NEWS ARTICLE from The Sun, 6-26-08, By Bryan Story, bstory@sunnews.com
``AVON -- The Richard E. Jacobs Group is continuing to buy up land near the site of the proposed Interstate 90 interchange at Nagel Road.
The Jacobs group acquired an 89-acre parcel on the north side of Chester Road just west of Jaycox Road, costing $8.9 million ...
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NEWS ARTICLE from The Morning Journal, 7-31-08, by SCOT ALLYN, Morning Journal Writer
Zoning changes OK'd for future Avon interchange site
``AVON -- Hotels, restaurants, office and retail could be in the future for land on Chester Road near the future Nagel Road interchange with Interstate 90.
Last night [7-30-08], zoning changes for future commercial development on land owned by the Richard E. Jacobs Group were approved by the Avon Planning Commission.
The zoning changes are for a 5-acre parcel on the south side of Chester Road that the Jacobs Group is under contract to purchase within an 88-acre parcel it bought in June, according to Jim Eppele, vice president of real estate development for the company. The commission also approved rezoning for about two-thirds of a 104-acre parcel the Jacobs Group has under contract on the north side of Chester Road. Both parcels are west of Jaycox Road ...
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NEWS ARTICLE from The Morning Journal, 9-21-08, By Scot Allyn, sallyn@MorningJournal.com
``Jacobs Group buying property around proposed I-90 interchange
AVON -- In spite of a Wall Street meltdown, plunging retail sales and nationally new home starts sinking to their lowest level since 1991, one Cleveland-area developer ... [has] acquired more land this summer near the future Nagel Road interchange on Interstate 90.
In August [2008], The Richard E. Jacobs Group closed a deal on 103 acres on the north side of Chester Road west of Jaycox Road for $3 million, across the street from 88 acres it purchased in June. Tomorrow [9-22-08], Avon City Council will vote on rezoning for part of the acreage that would allow stores, office space, restaurants and hotels to be built in the wooded area.
This summer's acquisition is in addition to 213 acres the Jacobs Group bought in 1999 from the Norfolk Southern Railway on Nagel Road, north of Interstate 90, according to Jim Eppele, vice president for real estate development for the Richard E. Jacobs Group ...
The Jacobs Group sold 40 acres of the 213-acre parcel to the Cleveland Clinic, which plans a medical center there, according to Heather Phillips, a Clinic spokeswoman.
The Jacobs Group is also developing the Avon Crossing retail center at Chester Road and SR 83, where a 104,000-square-foot J.C. Penney store is scheduled to open Saturday [9-27-08]. The J.C. Penney store will include a 1,500-square-foot Sephora cosmetics and perfume center inside, according to J.C. Penney's spokesman Tim Lyons ...
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www.morningjournal.com/articles/2010/01/29/news/mj2227388.txt
NEWS ARTICLE from The Morning Journal, 1-29-10, By RICHARD PAYERCHIN rpayerchin@MorningJournal.com
[Governor Strickland fast tracks Avon's Nagel Road interchange]
``AVON -- The new Interstate 90 exit at Nagel Road in Avon is in the fast lane for development.
Ohio's Transportation Review Advisory Council voted yesterday [1-28-10] to create a new FAST TRAC review process to speed review of key transportation projects around the state.
No. 1 on the list: the Nagel Road interchange, a $23.7 million project that will connect the road to I-90, a new five-lane Nagel Road bridge and upgrades at the intersection of Lear [Nagel] and Chester roads. The highway exit was one of five the TRAC picked yesterday for the FAST TRAC process.
"That means as fast as we can go, they'll work with us," Avon Mayor Jim Smith said ... If all goes smoothly, the project could be bid this year, with construction starting in 2011 and finishing in late 2012, cutting at least eight months -- maybe more -- from the original project schedule, Smith said.
The intersection will be home to one of the Cleveland Clinic's newest facilities as the medical giant builds the new $97.9 million Avon Family Health & Surgery Center.
The 186,000-square-foot facility, set to open in 2011, will offer primary care services and more than 30 specialty services, including physical therapy, aquatic therapy, an ambulatory surgery center and a 24-hour emergency room. It also will bring 400 jobs to the city and generate approximately $1 million in city and state taxes annually ...
"Right to start, the Cleveland Clinic is going to have $35 million going into wages for people just to construct the building," Smith said. "There's immediate economic benefit for the area and the state." ...
Smith was joined yesterday [in Columbus] by officials from the Cleveland Clinic.
The city will pay for one-third of the project, mostly with income taxes generated by the new jobs around the site. Nearby property owner Richard E. Jacobs Group will pay for another third of the project, and the final third will be generated through tax increment financing [TIF], a funding method that uses property taxes to pay for infrastructure improvements. [Avon taxpayers are really paying the TIF taxes; so Avon is paying two thirds, not one third.]''
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Source: www.loraincounty.com
Title: Avon's debt
Message:
``Quoting from above:
"The city [Avon] will pay for one-third of the [$23.7 million] project, mostly with income taxes generated by the new jobs around the site. Nearby property owner Richard E. Jacobs Group will pay for another third of the project, and the final third will be generated through tax increment financing, a funding method that uses property taxes to pay for infrastructure improvements."
Apparently, Avon must assume all of the debt and is responsible for paying off two-thirds of it. What happened to the Jacobs Group paying one-half, and when will Avon get the money from the Jacobs Group?''
Written by: Commentator 1 on January 29, 2010
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Title: Re: Avon's debt
Message:
``I agree Commentator 1. Tax Increment Financing is really no differnet then regular taxes except the county doesn't get it's cut. Other then that, it is no magic bullet ...''
Written by: Commentator 2 on January 29, 2010
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Title: Re: Avon's debt
Message:
``I agree. At the end of the day Avon citizens are paying 2/3's. I see that the state is trying to push the project along. I wonder if the money is in place to do so -- I doubt it.''
Written by: Commentator 3 on February 3, 2010
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Title: Avon School Levy (5.9 mills)
Message:
``Commentator 4 wrote on February 15, 2010:
"5. What are the estimated revenue increases to the school system from the Lear [Nagel] Rd. interchange?"
None. All revenue increases will be used to pay off the TIF bonds used to build the interchange.''
Written by: Commentator 1 on February 16, 2010
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Title: Avon School Levy (5.9 mills)
Message:
``Commentator 1 has nailed it. While nobody likes a tax increase, perhaps none of this would be necessary if we operated differently -- case in point the financing for the interchange. Who will benefit from the interchange? Those that develop near it -- not the common taxpayer unless you buy into the thought that having more services in that area and being able to get off of I-90 a bit sooner is a real benefit to you.
As someone posted earlier WE will be paying for 2/3 of this interchange as the TIF money -- which at the end of the day is taxpayer money that could be used for our roads -- will be used to pay the debt on this project.
While I don't like tax increases, it is interesting that other then Commentator 1's comment no one is mentioning that if our goverement did what they said they would do (meaning we would only finance 1/2 of this project and private enterprise would pay 1/2) instead of the 2/3, 1/3 split, then perhaps we could use some TIF funding for the school and reduce the impact to the common taxpayer ...''
Written by: Commentator 3 on February 17, 2010
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Title: Avon School Levy (5.9 mills)
Message:
''The School Board should demand a piece of the action at Nagel Rd. on behalf of Avon taxpayers.''
Written by: Commentator 1 on February 18, 2010
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Title: Avon School Levy (5.9 mills)
Message:
``Here's something the Avon School Board can do:
ARTICLE from The Plain Dealer, 1-26-08, by Joan Mazzolini
~Clinic loses battle with Beachwood schools for records in tax case
The Cleveland Clinic must turn over financial information that the Beachwood Board of Education requested to make its case that the hospital's Cedar Road facility should not be exempted from property taxes, the Board of Tax Appeals ruled yesterday ...
The board's decision should move forward a case that has languished for two years, after the Clinic appealed the Ohio tax commissioner's decision that the property is taxable.
The commissioner ruled that the Clinic's Cedar Road facility was an office building for physicians where little if any charitable care is provided and that it is not eligible for a property tax exemption.
The Beachwood schools had challenged the Clinic's request for property tax exemption. Ohio law allows school districts, which receive the bulk of property taxes, to challenge exemptions.
Districts with large Clinic facilities, such as Independence, Willoughby- Eastlake and Solon, have followed Beachwood's lead. The outcome of the Beachwood case will affect their challenges ..."''
Written by: Commentator 1 on February 19, 2010
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Title: avon paddles towards new outdoor pool
Message:
Commentator 2 wrote on 2-25-10:
"Why do we need to keep passing taxes for everything? What is the purpose of all of the Commercial activity? Is it to simply increase traffic? Isn't it to help keep taxes low? ..."
Commentator 2 has hit the nail on the head ... No skin is coming off the City's nose with the Nagel Rd. interchange. The city income tax money from the new Cleveland Clinic facilty goes untouvhed to the City government. The Avon School Board should demand compensation from the City for every real estate tax dollar lost from tax exemption. With this money, a 5.9 mil increase would probably not be necessary.
What happened to the Jacobs promise to pay half the cost of the interchange? Does our government think the voters are just going to forget about this? It may be argued that `you can't get blood out of a stome.' In that case, turn to the immediate beneficiary of the Nagel Road interchange -- the Cleveland Clinic:
``NEWS ARTICLE from The Plain Dealer, 6-25-08, by Joan Mazzolini
``The Cleveland Clinic is expected to get approval today from a state agency to issue more than $1 billion in bonds ...
The $1.02 billion in bonds would be issued through the Ohio Higher Education Facility Commission. A change in state law allows the commission to issue the low-interest bonds for nonprofit hospitals just as it does for nonprofit Ohio colleges and universities ...
About $120 million will go to facilities the Clinic plans to build in Avon and ...``
Let the Clinic pick up the Jacobs half of the interchange. And let's be honest about what's happening with the school money. Instead of calling for teacher layoffs, how about calling for the momey that should rightfully be used for education.
Written by: Commentator 1 on February 26, 2010
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Title: avon paddles towards new outdoor pool
Message:
People need to realize that new businesses bring in mostly only new income taxes, which go to the city. Since 75%% of real estate taxes are usually abated for 10 years or more, and most of the real estate taxes go to the schools, the city council is harming the schools for the benefit of the city ...
Written by: Commentator 2 on February 26, 2010
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Title: Commentator 2's Point...
Message:
... Schools get killed by tax abatement. City government is literally immune from this because the majority of their revenues are generated via income tax.
This is one of the fundamental flaws of our public education funding system: the burden of paying for schools falls on property owners. If cities don't abate, business moves elsewhere to get an abatement. This is why it is important for the Board of Education to work in concert with our city government. There needs to be a balance. We need businesses to enter Avon, but at the same time we can't do that on the backs of the Avon taxpayers.
Written by: Commentator 5 on February 28, 2010
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Title: avon paddles towards new outdoor pool
Message:
It just hit me. Why the recent spate of real estate tax levies on the ballot? Our City government has a historical preference for income tax levies. So why the library and now an outdoor pool? Possible answer: Any real estate tax levy that passes raises money for the Nagel Rd. interchange because of the TIF diversion.
Written by: Commentator 1 on March 1, 2010
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Title: NEW INTERCHANGE
Message:
Isn't the clinic considered a tax-exempt entity, therefore it doesn't pay real estate taxes which is the only thing that benefits the schools. The city will get the income taxes from the employees.
As to other businesses, not much for schools if city gives abatement as always seems to do.
Written by: Commentator 2 on March 8, 2010
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Title: NEW INTERCHANGE
Message:
As Commentator 2 has pointed out, new businesses in the Nagel Rd. area will have their real estate taxes abated; so the schools will continue to get NOTHING. In the meantime, the rest of us will be responsible for paying off the $23 million debt incurred to build the interchange.
Written by: Commentator 1 on March 11, 2010
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Title: NEW INTERCHANGE-South
Message:
First off, The Clinic told the city they were coming with or without an interchange. Secondly the citizens of Avon are going to be stuck with the albatross around their neck (the debt from it) for years to come. Here is what we need to think about: what is the benefit to the citizens of Avon? That is what should be considered.
In my opinion we are all paying so a few developers can get richer while we have been conned into believing there is some great benefit to all of the citizens. I don't see this lowering our taxes. I don't see this helping repair and build out our infrastructure that is in need of repair or will need repair (in fact I think the debt will put us behind the 8 ball in doing major road and sewer repairs that will be needed in the future) and I don't see this making Avon any less congested from a traffic perspective.
The other thing that nobody has mentioned here is what other problems is this interchange going to cause. I'll throw one out to everyone - Nagel Rd itself. I think this will drive a good amount of traffic south into Avon and North Ridgeville. This section of Nagel is already in moderate to poor shape and is already VERY congested during rush hour. Further, [in addition] to just repairing the road, if traffic does increase in this area, you may need to consider widening it to put in turn lanes at some of the intersections like Schwartz Rd and Nagel. Look for the room there -- good luck.
It is easy to say that this interchange will drive more development in this area, and it may. However no one will really be able to measure what the difference in development would have been without it ...
There is 83 and Crocker if people need to get into Avon. Heck 611 is even an opition ...
Written by: Commentator 3 on March 18, 2010
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blog.cleveland.com/metro/2010/01/avons_new_interstate_90_interc.html
NEWS ARTICLE from The Plain Dealer, 1-29-10, By Karen Farkas
``Avon's new Interstate 90 interchange at Lear-Nagel Road will likely open in 2012 ...
AVON -- The $24 million interchange, funded by the city and private developers, is among the first of five infrastructure projects approved Thursday under ODOT's new FAST TRAC program.
The program accelerates the normal four-year planning timeframe it takes a major transportation project to gain final approval by the Transportation Review Advisory Council, an independent committee chaired by ODOT Director Jolene M. Molitoris.
ODOT will move faster to help Avon acquire land and complete planning to get the project under way. The interchange is now set to open in late 2012, about a year earlier than planned.
The other FAST TRAC roadway projects are in Franklin, Clark and Butler counties.
"They said whatever we can do to make it quicker they will work with us on it," said Avon Mayor Jim Smith, who traveled to Columbus Thursday morning for the TRAC meeting ... Smith said most of the engineering is done and almost all the environmental assessment. Land still has to be acquired. He hopes to break ground in 2011.
Cleveland Clinic officials also attended the meeting. The Clinic broke ground last November [2009] on the $97.9 million Avon Family Health & Surgery Center at the proposed interchange.
Most of the 212 acres around the interchange is owned by the Jacobs Group ...''
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: kfarkas@plaind.com
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NEWS ARTICLE from The Press, 6-2-10, By Rebecca Turman
``Special assessments for new interchange to impact more than 100 property owners
AVON -- Property owners who will pay for assessments to help fund the construction of the new I-90 interchange at Nagel Road will have the opportunity to ask questions and voice concerns during a public informational meeting Thursday [6-3-10] ...
While the city will need to acquire property from 31 landowners to build the interchange, ... approximately 105 property owners will be assessed as a result of the interchange being built.
On May 17 [2010], city officials sent out an informational letter to those who will be impacted by the assessments. The letter states the interchange, which will cost an estimated $28 million, will be paid from three separate sources:
1) A contribution from The Jacobs Group totaling a third of total construction costs. This payment will likely be paid by The Jacobs Group as a voluntary assessment on some of the property owned by The Jacobs Group located near the interchange [in other words, no money up front?].
2) The city will pay for a third of the total construction costs from anticipated income tax revenues and payments made in lieu of [real estate] taxes in a number of [TIF] districts that have been designated for this purpose by the city (TIF revenues).
3) The final third will be paid by levying special assessments on property owners specifically benefited by the construction of the interchange.
In the letter, the city states the assessment is [necessary because] ... the current estimate is more than the city reasonably expects to have available to pay from its general revenues or TIF revenues.
According to the letter, special assessments will not be levied until interchange construction is complete, sometime in late 2012 or early 2013. Those who will be assessed can either pay off the amount in full or pay it over a 20-year period, with interest accumulated, at the same time real estate taxes become due and payable.
Those with agricultural exemptions can defer paying special assessments until their property is sold or developed. This includes the sale of right-of-way to the city.
Essentially, the city will loan money for those special assessments. However, once the property is sold or developed, owners will have to reimburse the city for the full amount that was deferred, plus interest accrued.
Colliers Ostendorf-Morris, an independent appraiser hired by the city to review the Benefited District, compiled a summary of how the benefit to property owners from the interchange was calculated. Factors taken into consideration were proximity to the interchange, visibility from I-90, existing access and zoning ...''
Contact Rebecca Turman at rturman@2presspapers.com
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www.morningjournal.com/articles/2010/06/04/news/mj2834487.txt
NEWS ARTICLE from The Morning Journal, 6-4-10, By JAMILA T. WILLIAMS jwilliams@MorningJournal.com
``Avon property owners to pay: Citizens voice concern about Interstate 90 project
AVON -- Property owners who are going to have to help pay for the $28 million Interstate 90/Nagel Road interchange told the city what they thought of the future tax assessments. And what property owners said let the city know how unhappy they are.
"Just unfair," Rose Jenne, of Jenne Distributors, said of the way her business will be assessed. The assessment for her six plus acres could be as much as $201,000 with interest.
Jenne Distributors is on Chester Road where the exit ramp would be built, she said. The interchange would hurt rather than help her business, despite being considered to be in a prime spot based on the appraiser's calculations.
The exit ramp would essentially cause her to close one of her entrances because the trucks would not be able to get into the loading area.
"I don't need it (the interchange), and I don't want it," she said. "It doesn't benefit me."
The interchange is believed to impact nearly 105 property owners who will be asked to foot $9 million of the cost. Avon will also need to acquire property from 31 owners to build the interchange. Some property owners will receive assessments in the millions, such as Henkel -- close to $2 million ...
Many were in disagreement with how the assessments were made and how much benefit their business would gain from the interchange. One concerned property owner ... said the interchange was being railroaded down everyone's throats ...
Throughout the meeting, tensions remained high, many upset with the amount of their assessments, when the city really didn't have a set price on the project. A note pad was even passed around for interested meeting attendees to sign up to find out more about bringing a class action lawsuit against the city.
Steve Schaefer said he came to the meeting to get a feel for what's going on and to hear the organizers' plans ... Schaefer said while he hasn't calculated the total estimated assessment he'd have to pay for his company, Schaefer Development on Lear Industrial Parkway, the amount is more than likely not affordable for him ...''
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2presspapers.northcoastnow.com/tag/avon/
NEWS ARTICLE from The Press, 6-9-10, By Beth Mlady
``Meeting draws heated exchange over I-90 interchange
AVON -- Tempers flared from the outset of a Thursday [6-3-10] information session in City Hall, as property owners and residents shared confusion and anger over 'unfair' property tax assessments conceived to help fund construction of a new I-90 interchange in Avon ...
Margaret Callesen, a bond attorney with Calfee, Halter & Griswold LLP, who has been working with city officials, spoke next.
'This type of assessment won't be any different than any other ' it's just larger in scope,' she said, adding the method of using 'properties that are specially benefiting' is the 'best measure' for the calculations.
Lawrence Kell, senior vice president at Colliers Ostendorf-Morris, who appraised the properties, said, 'The most important criteria is proximity.' He went on to say, 'visibility prior to the interchange ' is a major benefit.'
Business owner Rose Jenne, of Jenne Distributors on Chester Road, spoke several times during the meeting.
'I think it's unfair,' Jenne said. 'This interchange is definitely going to affect my business. It will cost me $1.5 million to move my building. (The interchange) doesn't benefit me. It will kill my business.
'It's not only the assessments, but after all of that, land is going to be taxed higher. So we're going to get hit twice.'
Callesen said the interchange analysis was based on 'whether it benefits the property, not the business.' ...
But many property owners feel the weight of the burden rests squarely on them. Ed Connelly of Connelly Landscaping called the situation 'scary,' saying to cover the money he will eventually owe will 'take a lot of time, and you have to sell a lot of bushes.' ...
Mike Kelly, a Just Imagine Drive businessman, said, 'You guys are going to have to go back to the drawing board.'
Another man agreed, saying, 'If it's something the city can't afford right now, it just shouldn't happen. You should be going to Jacobs (Group, which owns 220 [and more, See above] acres of affected property) and telling them to pony up.'
One attendee invited others to join him in a class action suit against the assessments. 'Are you working on a Plan B?' asked another man. 'Because this thing is probably going to be shut down.' ...
A Resolution of Necessity could be discussed by City Council before year's end. Future meetings to discuss the I-90 interchange will be announced by city officials.''
Contact Beth Mlady at mladywrites@yahoo.com
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Source: www.loraincounty.com
Title: Re: Tax Abatements
Message:
(Written by: Commentator 2 on March 30, 2010)
Commentator 6, first of all, kudos to you for responding to issues on this board ...
[Commentator 6 wrote:
There are six (6) property tax abatements with businesses on the books right now in Avon. ... ]
As to the $120,000 tax figure that the schools lost due to abatement, given the city received about $500,000 of income taxes on the 800 to 900 jobs you mentioned, why can't the city pay the schools the $120,000 that was abated? After all, this is over two full-time teachers. The city has no problem giving raises to everyone in this bad economy, surely they could afford the $120,000.
Written by: Commentator 2 on March 30, 2010
[Commentator 2 is not proposing that tax abatement agreements be revisited. Commentator 2 is proposing that the City of Avon pay the Avon schools the revenue that is lost because of tax abatement.]
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Title: Re: Tax Abatements
Message:
Commentator 6, thanks for your research. Please address the elephant in the room -- the real estate tax exemption of the Cleveland Clinic.
Don't you think that the City should pay the schools from its income tax revenue the momey that the schools are losing from the Clinic tax exemption? If this were factored in, the 5.9 mil levy might not be necessary.
And what about whose paying for the Nagel Rd. interchange? Suddenly the commitment to pay one-half the cost by the Jacobs group has been reduced to one-third, with no public discussion. Are you comfortable with this sleight of hand?
Did you consider that the Clinic should pay some or all of the cost of the interchange? After all, the Clinic has a $1 billion dollar line of credit from the State, while the way things stand now, the taxpayers of Avon are going to be stuck with the full $23 million [now, June 2010, $27 million] debt incurred to build the interchange.
We are called on to vote for 5.9 mils now, more mils in 2011, and who knows how many mils in 2011 to build a new middle school. There are some seniors in Avon who just can't afford this, especially when the Jacobs Group and the Clinic are the primary beneficiaries of massive Avon expenditures and debt.
Written by: Commentator 1 on March 31, 2010
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Title: Re: Tax Abatements
Message:
When talking about bond ratings, first of all, no matter what it is, doesn't justify waste. Secondly, didn't Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, WorldCom, and Enron all have top ratings from the "experts" before they went bankrupt? I am not suggesting this will happen to Avon, but let's not give the rating agencies too much credit (pardon the pun). Thanks.
Written by: Commentator 2 on March 31, 2010
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Title: 90 Interchange
Message:
Well all, I hope you read it in The Press [4-1-10]. North Ridgeville has realized that the interchange is going to impact them and are widening Lear Nagel from Lorain to Center Ridge (or at least making plans to) yet the rep from North Ridgeville noted that Avon has no plans to widen from Center Ridge up to Detroit because "THEY DO NOT HAVE THE MONEY". I mentioned this as an issue a few weeks back and it seems it will be. This is going to another problem that is going to be saddled on the citizens of Avon ...wait and see.
Also I do find it interesting that there is now talk about trying to tax those properties that will benefit from the interchange. WOW what a concept ...
Written by: Commentator 3 on March 31, 2010
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Title: Re: Tax Abatements
Message:
Commentator 6, you are outnumbered on council and had nothing to do with something that will slowly cook Avon's goose (stadium, YMCA) as it will burden us and harm services for at least 30 years.
What you can do as someone stated, is question things like the interchange. The Press said it will cost $20.8 million [now, June 2010, $27 million]. Does this include the 30 pieces of property needed? Does this include surrounding road improvements, engineering, etc. In summary, it is your job to make sure that when you vote for expenditures, you get a rolling total of what has been spent versus budget (oh yeah, make sure there is a budget) and what are the overages and underages. Just because Avon can borrow doesn't mean you have a blank check.
The schools may be a separate entity, but the SAME taxpayers pay for them as pay for city services. A burden from one impacts taxpayer sentiment for the other!
Written by: Commentator 2 on April 1, 2010
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Title: Re: Tax Abatements
Message:
There was a long list of proposed cuts in school services, including bussing, if the 5.9 mil levy fails in the last issue of Avon Avenues; but there was NOT ONE WORD about going after the revenue the schools are losing from tax-abated real estate and tax-exempted medical facilities.
As a side note, real estate tax exemption for medical facilities is bad economic policy, if you think a level playing field is a good idea. See
http://www.freetimes.com/stories/14/22/charity-...
``There is another group for whom the property tax exemption is not fair: doctors in private practice. A healthcare giant like ... the Clinic can provide medical services in a suburban facility and not pay taxes, but an independent practice of physicians gets no such benefit. This is problematic from an economic perspective, says Dr. Edward W. (Ned) Hill, vice president for economic development at Cleveland State University.
"As an economist, I like neutrality when it comes to taxation and not discriminating based on the mode of ownership," Hill says. "This is a tax policy that favors one form of delivering medicine over another. It disadavantages the small medical provider."''
Written by: Commentator 1 on April 12, 2010
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Title: Re: Role of Avon City Council
Message:
The Avon Council should vote to pay the Avon School District, from the City's income tax revenue, the money the schools are losing because of tax abatement and medical tax exemption.
If this were done, the 5.9 mil levy this year and the levy next year, 2011, would not be necessary. As far as building a new middle school is concerned, let's keep on using the existing middle school.
Written by: Commentator 1 on April 16, 2010
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Title: Re: Role of Avon City Council
Message:
I don't think there is any one solution for the schools need for money. It can be solved with a combination of:
Abatement being credited to schools from city.
Freeze on wage increases.
Larger classrooms.
Real estate tax increase, but it should be less then currently asked for.
I am sure there are other good ideas. But the fact is, you don't bridge a $5 million or so per year gap with only one of the above suggestions.
Funny, it seems like reality is setting in with the city. They now realize they can't pay for the interchange with more borrowing. Looks like they are about out of credit card capacity.
Written by: Commentator 2 on April 16, 2010
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Title: Re: School Issue 3
Message:
The elephant in the room is the failure of the Avon Board of Education to go after the revenue the schools should have from real estate that is tax abated or medically tax emempted.
I'm not arguing that the City should deny abatements for industrial projects (commercial abatements should be denied -- Avon Commons was not tax abated) or that the City should contest medical tax exemptions (although they discriminate against small medical practices -- who cares about a level playing field?). I am proposing that the City pay the BOE the money the schools are losing from City income tax revenue.
For those who think development at the Nagel Road interchange is going to be a horn of plenty, see
http://www.morningjournal.com/articles/2010/04/...
``AVON -- It won't be long before another development explodes in Avon near the site of the future Cleveland Clinic ...
The Richard E. Jacobs Group owns 169.5 acres along Lear Nagel Road that it intends to use for mixed use development. [What about the rest of the property the Jacobs Group owns in the vicinity of the interchange? See above]
Jim Eppele, vice president of real estate development for the Jacobs Group, said it already has a conceptual masterplan of the site laid out ...
Here's a look at the square-footage set aside for the various buildings the Jacobs Group has planned:
* 90,000 square-foot health club
* 19,725 square-foot space for retail
* 10,000 square-foot day care
* 77,568 square-foot hotel space
* 14,125 square-foot of restaurant space
* 45,900 square-foot assisted living space
* 310,000 square-foot office space
* 417,500 square-foot light industry space
... The Cleveland Clinic's $97.9 million Avon Family Health & Surgery Center is set to open in 2011. The 186,000-square-foot facility will offer primary care services and more than 30 specialty services, including physical therapy, aquatic therapy, an ambulatory surgery center and a 24-hour emergency room. It will also generate approximately $1 million in city and state taxes annually.''
The Jacobs development history at Chagrin Highlands should be examined for what Avon might expect from our specualtion at Nagel Road. Far more certain is that Avon will have to pay two-thirds the cost of the intercahnge, and that we will have to carry all of the debt.
Written by: Commentator 1 on April 27, 2010
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Election on 5-4-10:
Issue 3 - Avon Local School District Additional/5.90 mills, Emergency Requirements, 10 yrs.
100 % reporting
For 1,864
Against 2,389
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Title: Re: So sad
Message:
Concentrating on cuts may be psychologically satisfying, but it is a dead-end way to frame the issue. How about trying to increase school income by other means than exclusive reliance on the real estate tax?
For example:
Fees to participate in sports and other activities -- young families with good (and increasing) incomes will not blink at this.
Open enrollment -- avoid teacher layoffs by using vacant classrooms. We paid for these facilities; so let's use them. The time value of money should not be ignored.
From income tax revenue, the City of Avon should pay the schools the real estate tax money that the schools lose because of tax abatements and medical tax exemptions.
I'm sure there are others.
Written by: Commentator 1 on May 5, 2010
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Title: Avon Council Reckless Spending
Message:
Commentator 7 wrote, "i do not think the city is in as bad a shape as some people think it is in. i do think council and the mayor are doing a good job. how many other cities have grown like avon and new business want to locate here. the new revenue being generated should put the city in good shape."
Commentator 7,
We have good cash flow, but terrible levels of debt. They need a plan to recover (if even possible) from the financial hole they have dropped us in.
Questions to ponder:
1. Why would one believe that additional commercial growth is good for Avon? Have your taxes gone down with all of this commercial growth? Are the roads substantially more crowded? What's the point if there is no financial benefit to the citizens?
2. Did council deserve their 67% self-voted pay raise when all around were losing their jobs or becoming underemployed? Their collective pay raise was large enough to hire 1 additional teacher in Avon's schools.
3. Did council do any analysis on the proposed library structure that was $100 per square foot overpriced? If so, they should have campaigned against it instead of saying ... that they were a conduit for the library.
4. Do you believe that the Y and baseball palace were a good investment? Remember, the citizens voted to raise income taxes .25% based on spending $23M stated by the mayor, not the $37M actually spent. Council, with their famous 7-0 votes is fully responsible for squandering $37M on supposedly "free" property. By the way, this project will not support itself and the debt payments will come from the general fund.
5. Do you believe that Avon has $57M in net debt (historically $18M)? If not, get a copy of Avon's annual report.
6. Do you believe that the interchange on Nagel Road, if 2/3 funded by the taxpayers, will pay itself off? Don't let the TIF argument blind you from the fact that Avon taxpayers will be responsible for this debt. There are no cash flow projections by council or the mayor that will show this project to pay for itself. Our total debt will balloon to roughly $73M. [As of 6-3-0, the debt will ballon to $57M + $27M = $84,000,000]
7. Do you realize that at 4% financing, that $73M of debt will require $2.9M annually to service? That is $2.9M not going into your roads or anything else. [As of 6-3-10, .04 x $84M = $3,360,000 annual interest]
8. Do you realize that 25% of the street repair expenditures were cut from the 2010 budget? If we can't afford to fix our roads now, when will we?
9. Do you realize that Nagel Road will get an interchange, but the roadway south of Detroit road will not be improved because the city does not have the money? Drive through there at 5 o'clock today to enjoy the experience prior to hundreds of cars being added to the streets. North Ridgeville is already expanding Nagel Road ...
Written by: Commentator 8 on May 20, 2010
See Jacobs
More Documents Relating to the June 8, 1998, Decision Against Avon
Newspaper Record of XXXXX/Jacobs in Avon
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