Tax Incentive Review Councils

TIRCs review and monitor tax incentive agreements across Fairfield County jurisdictions, with the County Auditor serving as chair.

Tax Incentive Review Councils (TIRCs) process and monitor the status of tax incentives and agreements, making recommendations to local municipalities on the efficacy of those incentives. The Fairfield County Auditor serves as TIRC Chair. Each council below lists its full membership, contacts, and meeting agendas.

Fairfield County

Contact
Rick Szabrak
rick.szabrak@fairfielcountyohio.gov 740-652-7162
Angel Conrad
angela.conrad@fairfieldcountyohio.gov
Membership
Fairfield County Auditor
  • Dr. Carri Brown, TIRC Chair
Fairfield County Commissioners
  • Commission PresidentAlternate: Commission Vice President
  • County AdministratorAlternate: Deputy County Administrator
  • Regional Planning Executive DirectorAlternate: Economic Development Coordinator
Lancaster City Schools Representative
  • Julie Naylor, TreasurerAlternate: Nathan Hale, Superintendent
Lancaster City Appointments
  • Mayor Don McDaniel
  • Stephanie Bosco, Economic Development & Port Authority Director
Meetings
Fairfield County Auditor’s Real Estate Offices
2nd Floor Conference Room
108 North High Street
Lancaster, OH 43130
Meeting Agendas & Minutes
August 30, 2022 — AgendaPDF 2018 — MinutesPDF June 27, 2023 — AgendaPDF June 25, 2024 — AgendaPDF June 16, 2025 — AgendaPDF DRAFT
June 16, 2026 MinutesPDF

Reynoldsburg Fairfield, Franklin, & Licking Counties

Contact
Jonathan Kabat
jkabat@reynoldsburg.gov 614-322-6827 Fax: 614-322-6845
Membership

Membership list for Fairfield County maintained by Melissa Butler.

Fairfield County Auditor
  • Dr. Carri Brown – TIRC Chair
Fairfield County Board of Commissioners
  • Economic and Workforce Development DirectorAlternate: County Economic Development Specialist
  • County AdministratorAlternate: Deputy County Administrator
  • Regional Planning Commission DirectorAlternate: Economic Development Coordinator
Reynoldsburg Appointees

Two members of the public appointed by the Mayor with concurrence of Council

  • Chris Shook, City Attorney
  • Shanette Strickland, City Council Representative
Violet Township Board of Trustees Appointees
  • Vince Utterback, Township Administrator
  • Kelly Sarko, Zoning Inspector
Reynoldsburg School Representative (appointee)
  • Emily Hatfield, Treasurer/CFO
Eastland-Fairfield Career Center Representative (appointee)
  • Cherrell Turner, Business Partnership Coordinator (alternate to the Treasurer)
Meetings
7232 E Main Street, Reynoldsburg
Meeting Agendas & Minutes
June 28, 2022 — AgendaPDF June 15, 2023 — AgendaPDF May 21, 2024 — AgendaPDF June 18, 2025 — AgendaPDF
Next Meeting June 22, 2026 at 2:30pm — AgendaPDF

Canal Winchester Fairfield & Franklin Counties

Contact
Lucas Haire
lhaire@canalwinchesterohio.gov 614-837-1894 614-837-3974 Fax: 614-837-0145
Membership

Membership list for Fairfield County maintained by Lucas Haire. At least two TIRC members must be residents of the City of Canal Winchester.

Fairfield County Auditor
  • Dr. Carri Brown – TIRC Chair
Fairfield County Board of Commissioners
  • Economic and Workforce Development DirectorAlternate: County Economic Development Specialist
  • County AdministratorAlternate: Deputy County Administrator
  • Commission DirectorAlternate: Economic Development Coordinator
Canal Winchester City Council

Appointed by the Mayor with concurrence of City Council

  • Bob Clark, City Councilman
  • Steve Donahue, Retired Superintendent and Consultant
Violet Township Board of Trustees Appointees
  • Vince Utterback, Township Administrator
  • Stan Smith, Program Assistant for Agriculture and Natural Resources
Canal Winchester Schools Representative
  • Nicholas Roberts, CFO/Treasurer
Eastland-Fairfield Joint Vocational District Representative
  • Christine Boucher, Business Partnership Coordinator
Meetings
Canal Winchester City Hall
45 East Waterloo Street
Canal Winchester, Ohio 43110
Meeting Agendas & Minutes
June 29, 2023 — AgendaPDF
Next Meeting June 18, 2026 at 2:00pm (City Hall) — AgendaPDF

Lancaster

Contact
Tricia Nettles
tnettles@ci.lancaster.oh.us 740-687-6611 Fax: 740-681-5064
Membership
Council Members
  • Fairfield County Auditor
  • Lancaster Mayor or Designee
  • Lancaster Mayor Appointee (Minority Appointment)
  • Lancaster Mayor Appointee
  • Lancaster Auditor or Designee
Lancaster City Council President Appointee
  • Larry Ailes, Appointee
LCS Board of Education Appointee
Amanda Clearcreek Schools Representative
  • Lana Fairchild, TreasurerAlternate: Dr. Edwards, Superintendent
Meetings
1897 Room, 2nd Floor
104 E. Main St.
Lancaster, Ohio 43130
Meeting Agendas & Minutes
August 4, 2022 — AgendaPDF August 4, 2022 — MinutesPDF August 4, 2022 — Draft Minutes + AttachmentsPDF June 21, 2023 — AgendaPDF June 21, 2023 — MinutesPDF June 26, 2024 (Lancaster City Hall) — AgendaPDF June 26, 2024 — Draft MinutesPDF
Next Meeting June 24, 2026 at 9:00am (Lancaster City Hall) — AgendaPDF

Pickerington

Contact
Greg Butcher, City Manager
citymanager@pickerington.net 614-837-3974
Membership
Fairfield County Auditor
  • Dr. Carri Brown, TIRC Chair
Fairfield County Commissioners
  • Economic and Workforce Development DirectorAlternate: County Economic Development Specialist
  • County AdministratorAlternate: Deputy County Administrator
  • Regional Planning Commission DirectorAlternate: Economic Development Coordinator
Eastland-Fairfield Career Center
  • Dawn Lemley, Treasurer, Board of Education of the Eastland-Fairfield Career and Technical SchoolsAlternate: Cherrell Turner, Business Partnership Coordinator
City of Pickerington
  • Mayor Lee Gray, TIRC Vice-Chair
  • Nick Derksen, President of Pickerington City Council
Violet Township Appointees
  • Vince Utterback, Violet Township Administrator
  • Kelly Sarko, Violet Township Zoning Inspector
Pickerington Local School District
  • John Walsh, Treasurer
Meetings
City Hall, 100 Lockville Road
Pickerington, Ohio 43147
Meeting Agendas & Minutes
August 31, 2022 — AgendaPDF June 29, 2023 — AgendaPDF June 26, 2024 — AgendaPDF June 26, 2025 — AgendaPDF June 25, 2026 — AgendaPDF DRAFT
June 25, 2026 MinutesPDF

Lithopolis

Contact
Eric Sandine, Mayor
mayor@lithopolis.org 614-837-2031
Membership
Fairfield County Auditor
  • Dr. Carri Brown, TIRC Chair
Fairfield County Commissioners
  • County AdministratorAlternate: Deputy County Administrator
  • Economic and Workforce Development DirectorAlternate: Economic Development Specialist
  • Regional Planning Executive DirectorAlternate: Economic Development Coordinator
Village of Lithopolis
  • Mayor Eric Sandine
  • Chair of Lithopolis Public Works Committee
Bloom Township Board of Trustees
  • 2 Appointees
Bloom-Carroll Local School District
  • Travis Bigham, TreasurerAlternate: Superintendent Shawn Haughn
Eastland-Fairfield Career Center
  • Dawn Lemley, Treasurer, Board of Education of the Eastland-Fairfield Career and Technical SchoolsAlternate: Cherrell Turner, Business Partnership Coordinator
Meetings
Village of Lithopolis Council Chambers
11820 Lithopolis Road
Lithopolis, Ohio 43136
Next Meeting June 25, 2026 at 3:30pm (Village Council Chambers) — AgendaPDF
Public Notice
Read the Public Notice for TIRC Meetings for the method by which meeting dates, times, places, and purposes are made available.
TIRC Frequently Asked Questions
What are some terms relating to TIRCs?
  • Enterprise Zone (EZ): offers companies property tax exemption on new real property.
  • Environmental Protection Abatement (EPA): property tax incentives created to encourage the cleanup of brownfields and other environmental hazards. Oversight is conducted by the Ohio EPA, not the TIRC.
  • Tax Increment Financing (TIF): designates a parcel or multiple parcels as within a project.
  • Community Reinvestment Areas (CRA): provide real property tax exemptions to owners who make improvements to their property.
Why are tax incentives in place?

State and local governments use a variety of tax incentives to attract and retain business investment, create jobs, reduce blight, and pursue other goals. These incentives are used with the expectation that each results in increased property value, investment, employment, payroll activity, and/or other economic development benefit. TIRCs process and monitor the status of each incentive and make recommendations to the local municipality as to its efficacy.

What information do municipalities provide to TIRCs?

Per the Ohio Revised Code, municipalities must provide the TIRC with any information necessary to perform its review. A report is made by the municipality and minutes are taken annually on each incentive. These progress reports include scope of project, type of incentive, jobs created, payroll, and real estate investment. For TIFs, municipalities provide information on collections, expenditures, and fund balances. Each year the TIRC reviews the prior tax year's performance data for each incentive.

For abatements, the data shows whether the entity receiving the tax abatement is complying with the terms of the agreement — whether it hired the employees it said it would and invested in construction as promised. The TIRC receives information on jobs created or retained, total payroll, real estate investment, and construction payroll.

What type of recommendation does a TIRC make?

After reviewing information about agreements and compliance, TIRCs make recommendations about continuing agreements.

If there are compliance problems — and it is the first occurrence or the business is close to meeting the terms — the recommendation might be to continue the agreement and offer assistance to help meet the original goals. If a project is consistently off target, the TIRC might recommend modifying the agreement (for example, changing a 100% abatement to 75% to match performance). In extreme cases, the TIRC may recommend the municipality cancel the abatement altogether — this has not been the experience in Fairfield County.

What happens next?

Once the TIRC makes recommendations, they are presented to the municipality's legislative body for acceptance, rejection, or modification. The legislative body must vote on the TIRC's recommendations within 60 days of that municipality's TIRC meeting.