CRA Zone May Boost Business
In an effort to retain existing businesses and attract more, Burton Township Trustees created a Community Reinvestment Act area including about 200 acres next to…
In an effort to retain existing businesses and attract more, Burton Township Trustees created a Community Reinvestment Act area including about 200 acres next to Middlefield Township.
Companies building or renovating in the CRA zone, which includes the Berkshire Industrial Park, may be able to negotiate a reduced tax rate on improvements to their properties, said Trustee Dan Whiting.
“It’s not a (tax) abatement,” he said following a trustees meeting May 23.
Taxes on existing property will remain the same, but if a company builds a new facility or adds on to the original building, those structures could qualify for a reduced tax rate, he said.
“They’ll still pay (taxes) on the land. We’ll negotiate the building’s value,” Whiting said.
Trustee Ken Burnett said the school districts — Berkshire and Auburn Career Center — will be brought into the negotiations each time an application is made by a company planning to build or expand.
“It’s a work in progress that we’re excited about,”he said.
Getting more commercial and industrial properties developed will bring in more employment and tax revenue, Whiting said.
Geauga County will also have a hand in the development of the CRA zone.
Anita Stocker, director of the Geauga County Community Economic Development department, said Monday the CRA zone was established as of May 10 and will be administered by the county in cooperation with the township trustees.
The map shows the acreage on the north side of state Route 87 that belongs to the City of Akron was not included in the zone.
According to the zoning map at the township hall, all the parcels in the CRA zone are zoned for commercial or industrial use, with the commercial areas fronting on state Route 87 and industrial sections behind them.
The focus of the CRA zone is the area defined by White Road, Enterprise Way and the Berkshire Industrial Parkway on the south side of state Route 87.
The zone starts at the Middlefield Township line and goes west including 15 acres owned by Clark Family Limited on the south side and, on the north side of the road, to include 23 acres under the name of Harold W. Moss, according to the CRA map. Other owners of large sections include Bonner Ohio Properties, Great Lakes Growers and Burton storage.
Businesses wanting to build or expand may apply for CRA consideration and then the extent of the tax break is up to the negotiating team, Stocker said.
The CRA zone was approved by the Geauga County Commissioners at their May 10 meeting once the trustees had unanimously requested a CRA zone, she said.
Overall, the process took about four weeks, partly because a CRA zone was established in Parkman Township on U.S. Route 422 about a year ago, so it served as a model for the process, she said.
“Everybody was on board. It’s the right place,” Stocker said.
She added everyone understands successful companies need to expand. If they can’t do it in Geauga to their financial benefit, they will go to other counties where they will get a break.
“We want to keep our companies in our county,” she said. “A CRA zone evens the playing field.”
