Fairfield County Auditor
TIRCS

Tax Incentive Review Councils  (TIRCs) process and monitor the status of incentives and agreements to make recommendations to local municipalities as to the efficacy of the incentives.

FAIRFIELD COUNTY

Membership:

Fairfield County Auditor

  • Dr. Carri Brown, TIRC Chair

Fairfield County Commissioners

  • Commission President
    (Alternate: Commission Vice President)
  • County Administrator
    (Alternate: Deputy County Administrator)
  • Regional Planning Executive Director
    (Alternate: Economic Development Coordinator)

Lancaster City Schools Representative

  • Julie Naylor, Treasurer
    (Alternate: Nathan Hale, Superintendent)

Lancaster City Appointments

  • Mayor David Scheffler
  • Stephanie Bosco, Economic Development & Port Authority Director

Meeting Date/Time/Location:

REYNOLDSBURG - Fairfield, Franklin, & Licking Counties

Contact:

Melissa Butler

mbutler@ci.reynoldsburg.oh.us

Phone: 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 Director
    (Alternate: County Economic Development Specialist)
  • County Administrator
    (Alternate: Deputy County Administrator)
  • Regional Planning Commission Director
    (Alternate: Economic Development Coordinator)

Reynoldsburg Appointees:

  • Two Members of Public Appointed by Chief Executive Officer of the Municipal Corporation with the Concurrence of the Legislative Authority: 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:

  • Angele Latham, Treasurer

Eastland-Fairfield Career Center Representative:

  • Shelley Groves, Business Partnership Coordinator

Meeting Date/Time/Location:
7232 E Main Street, Reynoldsburg

CANAL WINCHESTER - Fairfield & Franklin Counties

Contact:
Lucas Haire

lhaire@canalwinchesterohio.gov

Phone: 614-837-1894

Fax: 614-837-0145

Phone: 614-837-3974

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 Director
    (Alternate: County Economic Development Specialist)
  • County Administrator
    (Alternate: Deputy County Administrator)
  • Commission Director
    (Alternate: 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

Meeting Date/Time/Location:
Canal Winchester City Hall

45 East Waterloo Street

Canal Winchester, Ohio 43110

LANCASTER

Contact:
Tricia Nettles

tnettles@ci.lancaster.oh.us

Phone: 740-687-6611

Fax: 740-681-5064

Membership:

Meeting Date/Time/Location:
1897 Room, 2nd Floor.
104 E. Main St.,
Lancaster, Ohio 43130

PICKERINGTON

Contact:
Greg Butcher, City Manager

citymanager@pickerington.net

Phone: 614-837-3974

Membership:

Fairfield County Auditor

  • Dr. Carri Brown, TIRC Chair

Fairfield County Commissioners

  • Economic and Workforce Development Director
    (Alternate: County Economic Development Specialist)
  • County Administrator
    (Alternate: Deputy County Administrator)
  • Regional Planning Commission Director
    (Alternate: Economic Development Coordinator)

Eastland-Fairfield Career Center

  • Shelley Groves, Business Partnership
    Coordinator, Representative of
    Fairfield Career Center

City of Pickerington

  • Mayor Lee Gray, City of Pickerington,
    TIRC Vice-Chair
  • Jacklyn Rohaly, 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,
    Representative of Pickerington Schools

Meeting Date/Time/Location:
City Hall, 100 Lockville Road
Pickerington, Ohio 43147

TIRC Frequently Asked Questions

  • 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 in our communities. Oversight is conducted by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, not the Tax Incentive Review Council.
  • Tax Increment Financing (TIF): Designates a parcel or multiple parcels as within a project.
  • Community Reinvestment Areas (CRA): Provide real property tax exemptions to property owners who make improvements to their property.

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 expectation that each granted incentive 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 the efficacy of the incentive.

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 information on scope of project, type of incentive, jobs created, payroll, and real estate investment. 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. This data is collected and compiled by the municipality and provided to the members of the TIRC.

For abatements, the data provided shows whether the entity receiving the tax abatement is complying with the terms of the agreement. Simply put, is the company receiving the tax break doing what it said it was going to do? Has it hired the employees it said it would? Has it invested in construction in the way it promised? The TIRC receives information on the number of jobs created or retained, total payroll, real estate investment (new structures or upgrades), and construction payroll.

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

Sometimes, if there are problems with the compliance, and it is the first time there has been a problem or if the business is close to meeting the terms of the agreement, the recommendation might be to continue the agreement and reach out and see what assistance can be provided to help the project meet the original goals. If the project is consistently off target, the TIRC might recommend modification of the original agreement. For example, if a property is 100% abated but regularly only meets 75% of the terms of the agreement, the recommendation might be to change the tax abatement from 100% to 75% and make the goals 75% of the original agreement. Finally, in extreme cases, the TIRC may recommend the municipality cancel the abatement altogether. This has not been the experience in Fairfield County.

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.