City Council - Regular Meeting

But it's okay. But it's just or you go back to the drawing board and then you say, "Okay, yeah, sorry about all the mistakes that we made." I mean that time machine if people feel that way. I mean, all right. Good evening. It's after 700 p.m. This is the regularly scheduled meeting of Worcester City Council. uh being held uh this evening uh November 3rd, 2025. Uh we are here in council chambers. The meeting's also livereamed on YouTube and our next regularly scheduled meeting will be November 17th, 2025. With that, Miss Hamilton, will you please call the role of the council members? [clears throat] Mr. Abernathy here.

Mr. Gaffy here. Mr. Jose here. Miss Kappic here. Mr. Malta here. Mr. Meyers here. Miss Warden here.

We have a quorum and the agenda will remain as it is. The only change that we will have in the agenda is we will probably um barring any specific conversation related to ordinances uh or items 1 through 7, we'll probably read those all at one time and then discuss them since they are basically um different parcels but the same um it's all related to the tiff. So from that standpoint to save u any unnecessary uh duplicity in conversation.

And with that I ask you to stand and uh recite the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Do I have a motion from council to approve the minutes from our last meeting? Motion. Motion by Mr. Abernathy, second by Miss Kappic. All in favor signify by saying I. I. Any opposed? All right. Minutes are approved. Communications from the mayor administration. Good evening. Good evening, Mr. Reynolds.

Good evening, Mr. President, council members. Um, just first a re little recap of things have gone on since in the last two weeks when we last met. Um, the 21st of October, we had our every other month managers meeting. Um, got updates uh from all the various departments. That same day, we had a an executive committee meeting of the Wester Growth Corporation uh in anticipation or planning for our upcoming meeting on November 20th of the full board. So, Worester Growth hasn't had a lot going on uh in recent months and we're now, I think, ready to move forward a couple with a couple projects. So, we'll be back to you following that meeting. Uh October 22nd, uh the directors and I took uh Mr. Paul out to breakfast. Uh enjoyed doing that and I assume we'll be doing that again in the next few weeks once we know who our ward 4 council person is. So I look forward to that an opportunity for us to get to know them a little better and them to uh to know us a little better. That same day there was a public hearing at the Wayne County Commissioner's Office as part of that annexation process for the Graham Farm and Jonathan and I attended that. That hearing went very well. Um there was one neighbor there that uh expressed just concern about storm water runoff uh if and when it was developed and that's a obviously a legitimate concern and and one that would be addressed in the planning stage uh as it goes through there and again it wasn't a vote on it. Uh Jonathan, do you know do we know when a votes can be scheduled on that?

We would anticipate either this weekend or [snorts] or next.

Okay. They meet weekly. So it they've got a statutory time frame that they're required to act on it within. So you know if that is approved by the commissioners, it'll come back to city council for final action and only after council acts on it at the very end does it come in or not. Um that's that was a busy day. That same day uh there was a groundbreaking event at the village network. You may have seen a write up in the paper for a short-term residential cottage. seemed like that was a very uh specific need that they've identified in the area and obviously it's only one cottage so you're talking about a limited number of spaces but it's a start um the 23rd we had our quarterly meeting with the win economic development council that that went well um the evening of the 24th I was at the Douglas Hall grand opening at the college of worester uh a nice event uh a lot of uh people of my era there because it was trustees and donors so a lot of gray hairs and no hairs. Um, Saturday morning the 25th, United Way held their heart and ghoul event down in the square. I know I think there were some council members there I saw with the kids or grandkids. Again, another nice event. That night uh was the Worcester Bulls hockey team home opener. Um, we do have a hockey team back in town as I understand. They are semi-pro is the definition as opposed to a minor league. But, um, so they're independent. But, uh, nice event. Uh we I was asked to drop the puck. Um shared that privilege with the Nobles and had quite a bit of fun with that. Unfortunately meant missing the Mitch Ryder concert which was another nice event. Hope hopefully you read or heard something about that. We got a lot lot of nice coverage uh uh in the press about that. Uh leaf pickup season's underway uh coincidentally. So is insurance open enrollment. I attended the first meeting and hats off to our HR department. Um they did a great job of explaining it. My wife was with me at the end of the

meeting. She had no questions which is like a mark of excellence. Um so I and I I told Janette that that she passed the highest bar at that point. And then we had a Warhog meeting on the 28th and uh our 2026 budget was approved without much discussion. It was pretty pretty uh even killed meeting. That same night uh we there I attended a voting engagement event put on by the College of Worcester at Lowry Center. um nice little event uh to go. I know I'm not sure we had any council PE people there, but I know we had some CA candidates there and some other people interested. So, um the 29th, uh we had Citizens Academy graduation and I know Joel will be talking more about that in a second. Uh also, uh had a representative Max Miller was in town and we got to give him a tour of that. It's coming along. I think by the time we get to it in December, it's going to be very close to finished. And then on Friday uh afternoon, uh went out to PPM for a retirement party for Jerry Martin. Um a lot of know Jerry, he's retiring after 25 years with the city. So wishing him all the best going forward. And just today, um Andrea brought it or two reports came in that uh want to pass along. Andre reported that our bed tax receipts through October surpassed all of 2024 receipts, which obviously guarantees that we'll have the highest bed tax receipts ever this year. And then John Rice confirmed that Silver Road is open for business. So if you've been down there, looks great. Not just Silver Road, but also the multi-use trail um that uh runs along Venture Boulevard. Um [snorts] looking forward um tomorrow is election day. If you haven't voted already, please make sure to do so. On uh Thursday, the uh WH school's business advisory council uh is going to meet and there'll be an

interesting discussion post election on on their plans moving forward. On the same day, we have a GOBA meeting. That's the great Ohio bicycle adventure. We'll have more details about timing, what their plans are. You know, this is not just on the path, but they want to stay here a night. So, we'll see what they've got in line then. Then the 11th, obviously Veterans Day. A number of things going on that day. I just I have uh breakfast with Dr. McCall scheduled uh from the College of Worcester that day. Um there's a Veterans Day program at the Rotary Club I'll be a part of. And there's a uh the Worcester High School uh band or not sure if it's symphic or concert, maybe both, has a Veterans Day concert at 1 p.m. up to the high school. Um the 13th um having lunch with Gabe Tutor. That's our regular monthly lunchon of the 17th of November. We're having a swearing in ceremony um for Worester PD. I think Joel reported last time about the advancements we've had. Um and with each of those advancements, it creates a hole and as part of that process, we'll be doing a swearing in of four or five individuals who advanced a [snorts] rank there. Then finally, I know this is a little further out, but Window Wonderland is going to be here before you know it, November 21st. So that Joel Okay.

Sure. Maybe not quite as big as Silver Road, but uh in our update I mentioned that the South Market and South Street streetscape was wrapping up. It's essentially done. I think the uh construction fence was still up, but they're just doing some minor um purchas items right now. So, that that'll be done any day now. So, that'll be nice. Um Christmas run pool. We had a couple meetings with our designer and it would actually be going out to bid again um either this week or next week. So to bid and then leaf pickup has started. So if anybody um watching from home wants to know when when the leaf pickup will be coming, all of those schedules are on our website. So please go there and look that up. Um this uh November 6th uh this week will be the public hearing on the zoning code and and map amendments we've been working on for over a year now. So those were submitted and a presentation was given at the last meeting. Um then they're going to have their public hearing at this meeting and then hopefully at the next meeting um they'll be ready to give a recommendation to council.

[clears throat]

Um, also in our our update last week, we we mentioned the the downtown grants, those facade grants we've been doing for four years now. Um, so we've been doing about 25,000 a year. We we've only just got into the 2025 money, but out of a little over 75,000 in grants over those three three and a half four years, um, there's been over 900,000 total investment downtown in facades and other things. So that's that's that's been a really wellreceived and wellused program downtown. Um just uh Bob mentioned the citizens government academy leadership academy. We just had our uh we just finished that up last week. Um I gave you one one little bit of feedback we got from that and I got another one. It was just about as good today. Um I might share that maybe in an upcoming one, but it's just a really good group of people, you know, citizens, people that work here. Some um aspiring elected officials are in the class and uh so that's just been a really um good class and we get a lot of good feedback. The the last class is really good because we just ask questions from the comp plan on current issues um and there's a lot of good discussion. So I included the we we asked those right before the end and then we we include those in that last session. So, I attached that last session that had the results of that um for you to look at and we compare that to the last time we asked the same questions in our complaint so you can see. I know it's a small sample size, but it's still good feedback and just to talk through with people from the community. Um, and one last item Andre is going to say something, but next meeting will be

Oh, yeah. the budget for 2026 will be submitted. Um, and at the same time, if you remember back a couple of years ago, We passed legislation that allocated bed tax to 75% to our partners and then 25% for for grants downtown. So that two years is up. So we'll need to have legislation presented at the same time for you to consider on that as well.

Okay. Uh just a quick few comments on the agenda. Just one item of new business that will require three readings or a suspension of the rules. It does not need it does need to be passed, excuse me, it does need to be passed by the end of November. So, there is a sense of urgency to it. Does not need to be passed tonight. Um, the seven items on second reading also are not timesensitive except in the sense that if we don't exercise our ability to do a tiff on at least some of these properties, we will not be able to do so at a later date. It's a use it or lose it um opportunity. Um, finally, I want to give a just a brief recap. Um the discussion at last week's meeting got a little fractured when it came to the city's use of tax incentives and tiffs which are two different things. I wanted to give just a a brief summary of those real quickly. Uh and again this is as much for the public here and at home as it is for council members. But a tax incentive is a temporary delay in tax increases used to incentivize investment in targeted areas. These are generally referred to as tax abatements and have been used by the city of Worcester strategically and intentionally in designated areas to incentivize growth and investment. Most common of these are designated as community reinvestment areas which are CRA projects. Although we also have a few enterprise zones which are EZ projects. Probably the best example of the impact of these taxes incentives in our community can be seen in our downtown. What we have today in downtown Worcester is largely the result of several decades of the use of CRAAS in that area. TIFF is different. TIFF is an acron acronym for tax increment financing. As Jonathan did such a good job of explaining his memo, a TIF does not relieve the tax burden for either the developer or any future owner of the property. Instead, for a designated

period of time, it allows a percentage of the newly created tax revenues to be used for infrastructure projects, while the remainder of the new revenues and 100% of the existing tax revenues goes to the schools. And in doing these infrastructure projects, the city of Worcester has a long history of paying only for those improvements that support development and allow that development to take place and not the direct development costs that have always been the responsibility of the developer. We keep the Worcester City School District fully informed of all proposals for TIFFs or tax abatements. Although Ohio law does not require formal approval by the affected school district so long as the amount of new revenue involved does not exceed 75% and the TIFF or abatement period did not does not exceed 10 years. For at least the last several years, the city and the school district have been united in their willingness to use these tools in a strategic matter manner. Both entities have recognized that used appropriately, CRAAS and TIFS will result in increases in the tax base that in the long term will pay for the short-term sacrifices many times over. In addition, the infrastructure paid for with these funds makes new development possible. Since 2010, 20% of the Wor City School District's new revenue has been generated by new construction. So in addition to adding to the quality of life for everyone living in, working in, or visiting Worcester, the local schools see a significant financial benefit from these infrastructure projects. There was a comment at our last meeting about the need for the administration to consider alternative revenue sources given the uncertainties over future funding. The administration wholeheartedly agrees. The legislation before you for a second reading is an attempt to do exactly that. It is a hedge against the potential loss of CDBG funds or inside millillage. And much like applying for a grant, if this

particular revenue source doesn't actually result in the funds we hope for in the future, we are no worse off than if we didn't apply for it in the first place. Keep in mind that when it comes to infrastructure projects, any funding that doesn't come from one of these alternative sources will come out of our general fund, which means it will be paid by all city taxpayers. For that reason, we always look to use the general fund last when it comes to these projects. I've only addressed the revenue side of the equation in these comments, and by that I mean how we work to obtain other source of funding for projects. Equally as important is the expense side, which is when and how council decides lose funds are to be used. That's a separate discussion and I'll save my remarks on that for another meeting. Thank you.

Well, thank you. Uh, our next item this evening, we do have a liquor control request, which Miss Hamilton, if you want to enlighten us on that. We received a liquor control request to transfer a D5I and D6 license from Ginsa Restaurant Group to Asian Fusion Buffet LLC at 3729 Burbank Road, Worcester. And I finally did find what a D5I is. And it essentially means that you can um serve alcohol at the restaurant in the glass in the bottle. And then the D6 edition means you can do that on Sunday as well. All right. Well, thank you. Thank you.

So with that, we have three options to request a hearing uh either in our county seat either in Columbus or to not request a hearing at all. Did we come to the conclusion this is where Osaka was and we think that this is just a transfer of liquor license? You can't transfer it from the location only to another business at that same location. Okay. Yeah. I I motion to wave hearing. Motion to wave hearing. Second by Miss Kappic. We need to do call RO vote. All right. So all in favor of uh not having a hearing signify by saying I. I.

Any opposed? Okay. Although in 12 years I've never gotten to go to Columbus for a hearing. [laughter] No, we have not. No, we we have not. Let's not make these points. Yeah. No. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Uh next item is communications from the public. We have three people that have signed up to discuss the uh next seven items of our meeting which are the tiff projects. The first individual is uh Mr. Hill. Want to take a stand at the podium there and let us know your thoughts please.

Sure. Um Ted Hill at 735 Avenue. Um, last meeting I believe it was mentioned that the schools should weigh in on the tips projects if they care. Um, I don't represent the school board, but it's my understanding that that isn't really possible. Um, given certain legal mechanisms that the only appropriate responses for the superintendent to say um the reasons are technical, but I can't go into it right now. Um, as a resident, I want to offer a word of caution to Um, the schools may need to offer property tax relief by offsetting with an earned income tax since property tax is pain point for voters at this point. Um, if the voters approve that offer, we'll increase the income tax residents in the city and make it harder for the city to raise money in the future from income taxes. um that increase in income tax from the schools may be inevitable, but what isn't is where the schools set that tax percentage. If they feel that their funding will be insecure due to short-term growth losses um because tips are liberally applied, then they would do well to set that tax rate higher to give themselves their own security. And after that, if voters come to feel that they are feeling more income tax than they are on property taxes. It will come from the city shares, not the schools. The school's share would be an earned income tax and it would be tied to property taxes that would be negated if the voters took it up. So, reversion, the repealing of an income tax would revert the property taxes. The school the city's income tax doesn't work that way. So I imagine it will come for the city's funding.

I think this would be a really easy thing to overlook looking at any individual tip project. So I thought that it needed to be mentioned. It's a very hidden cost. There isn't really any free money here. There's always some sort of consequence and I would encourage the city to use the tips very sparingly, very carefully.

Thank you. Uh Mr. Owens. So I have a few questions around the tips. First and foremost is if we if we initiate a tip, does it hard block that money for that specific project as many of this as much of the infrastructure that this wants to go towards has not been approved yet. So if we approve a tip but then later the project doesn't get approved by council, what happens to that money, right? Is it block is gone. You know what happens to it from there?

And also, it has been mentioned that the school gets way more money in 10 years, but they have to make it 10 years, right? We already have a a school system that can't get a new school built because they can't pass a levy. How much money are we going to redirect from them? I know, you know, over 10 years the goal is about a million and a half dollars, right? But that's that doesn't buy a school, but Maybe it pays for a few teachers. Maybe it lets you shrink class sizes because you can hire new teachers, retain teachers. So, I have concerns around that. Also, tomorrow we have an election where a majority of the school board is going to be on the ballot. We may have a whole new school board and maybe it is worth waiting to have a conversation.

Thank you. Thank you. Uh, last person that signed up was uh, Miss N. All righty.

Okay. Well, we've had communications from the public. We have no committee reports. We have no public hearings. So, moved on. We'll move on to unfinished business, which at this point we will do the same as we did last meeting, which we will have Miss Hamilton endure the reading of seven items. Uh the first seven items that we have and then uh then we'll open it up for discussion after that. So whenever you're ready, Mr. Can you just read them all one after the other? Yes. Okay. Yeah, please.

Okay. Ordinance number 2025-16, an ordinance declaring the improvement to certain parcels within the city, an area here in reference as 2025 tiff market S10 310 to be a public purpose and exempt from taxation pursuant to OC 5709.40B providing for the collection deposit of service payments and specifying the purposes for which those service payments may be expended and allowing for immediate enactment. Ordinance number 2025-17, an ordinance declaring the improvement to certain parcels within the city, an area here in reference as 2025 TIFF, Cleveland 4782, to be a public purpose and exempt from taxation pursuant to OC 5709.40B, providing for the collection and deposit of service payments and specifying the purposes for which those service payments may be expended and allowing for immediate enactment. Ordinance number 2025-18, an ordinance declaring the improvement to certain parcels within the city, an area herein referenced as 2025 tiff, Cleveland 2695, to be a public purpose and exempt from taxation pursuant to OC 5709.40B, providing for the collection and deposit of service payments and specifying the purposes for which those service payments may be expended and allowing for immediate enactment. Ordinance number 2025-9, an ordinance declaring the improvement to certain parcels within the city, an area here in referenced as 2025 TIFF, Cleveland 2775, to be a public purpose and exempt from taxation pursuant to OC 5709.40B, providing for the collection and deposit of service payments and specifying the purposes for which those service payments may be expended and allowing for immediate enactment. Ordinance number 2025-20, an ordinance declaring the improvement to certain parcels within the city, an area herein referenced as 2025 TIFF Burbank 4900, to be a public purpose and

exempt from taxation pursuant to OC 5709.40B, providing for the collection and deposit of service payments and specifying the purposes for which those service payments may be expended and allowing for immediate enactment. Ordinance number 2025-21. An ordinance declaring the improvement to certain parcels within the city, an area here in reference as 2025 TIFF Burbank 4855, should be a public purpose and exempt from taxation pursuant to OC [snorts] 5709.40B, providing for the collection and deposit of service payments and specifying the purposes for which those service payments may be expended and allowing for immediate enactment. Ordinance number 2025-22, an ordinance declaring the improvement to certain parcels within the city, an area here in referenced as 2025 TIFF Burbank 4147, to be a public purpose and exempt from taxation pursuant to OC 5709.40B, providing for the collection and deposit of service payments and specifying the purposes for which those service payments may be expended and allowing for immediate enactment.

Thank you, Mr. Abernathy. The floor is yours. Thank you, Miss Hamilton. Good evening, Jonathan. Thank you for being here. [laughter] Um, I'm going to go ahead and open it up to my fellow council members. I'm sure there are some additional questions, comments. Um, so I'll just say who wants to open it up. Miss Kappic.

I just want to answer Mr. Owen's question. And it's my understanding that if the city has the money from the TIFFs and the projects do not go forward, then the money stays in a fund. Ultimately, that money can in fact be transferred into the general fund, which is what they've recently done in Chicago. So, it does not go back to the schools.

Thank you. under under the provision that we're utilizing, if we do not utilize these funds under this division, we have to return them. Uh we have operated one parcel tiff previously uh which is the reconstruction of Long Road. So if you're traveling um up 585, you take a right uh onto Long Road going past um Gojo Industries. All of that roadway was reconstructed utilizing a parcel tiff, same mechanism as we've utilized here. And incidentally, it turned out that that project was able to be completed uh and and fully funded over the course of seven years. So the remaining three years uh that that tiff fund continued to um acrue those redirected revenues but then those revenues were repaid back to the school district to the county and to the other taxing districts. So with the provision that we're working with here, the expectation is that uh either these funds go to support new infrastructure and it has to be new or the maintenance thereof of that new infrastructure that's encouraging new future development that builds up the tax base. And if that does not happen or if that infrastructure can be done and we obtain grants and we obtain other financing and we don't need all of that then that those monies get returned to their respective taxing districts. Is that is that under the the provision that we would be operating or that is that a legal requirement that it be returned back or is it an option

that the only other option would be to identify other new construction projects that would be appropriate for those general areas that we're talking about. Uh so you could have an alternative project, but you would have to again justify that this is going to be new construction and the spirit of the program is to be able to help generate a stronger tax base. But if you do not do that, as was the case with Long Road, we just simply remit the money back to the schools and to the counties and there's another portion about 6% that would go into the general fund. So, okay. So, some of it does go back into the general fund and again is it mandatory that it be returned back to the other tax-based entities or

correct? Yes, it is uh only the portion that go the only portion going into the general fund is the portion that would have gone into the general fund but for the tiff because while tiff redirects 75% of revenues it's also redirecting 75% of the revenues that would have gone into the city's general fund on the commercial projects around five to 6% of the revenues uh that are on that tax bill go into the city's general fund. So that that portion also gets redirected into the tiff fund. Is that a time frame too that that has to happen within?

Uh well uh as soon as you would make that decision that hey these funds are not being spent. Um part of the tiff process is tiff will uh it it's it's similar to the cra and ez terms of you have a trir council reviews it except for you review it a couple different times. There's a tax incentive review council that'll look at what funds have been expended from those funds, what infrastructure has been delivered, and so each year, school districts, the county auditor, and other partners weigh in and provide comments to that tax incentive review process. The other times that council touches it is in the budget process because every single TIF gets its own item within the budget and gets called out. So again that is tracked on an annual basis as well. Further whenever the funds are actually to be utilized for a project. So say um council decides to enact these tiffs um then later on decides okay we're ready to uh support the kidney roundabout project. Again it's clarified that okay a portion of tiff funds would be used for that. [snorts] Again, if it turns out that we do not utilize those funds or at any time council wishes, the tiff can always be closed and sunset.

Mr. Myers, did you want to jump in? I was just asking if he recall the amount of projects that they've listed as potential for this tip funds. It would seem to me there's millions and millions of dollars of potential projects and this is 1.5. So, it's not like they're going to not find a place to spend it where it's going to go back to the schools. It's going to get spent. There's just I don't know was it 10 million $15 million worth of stuff you guys had listed there. There's approximately about $10 million of infrastructure called out. Chances of not spending 1.5 on one of those and having the money go back to the schools is about zero.

And and if the projects go forward though, obviously we've talked about this before, council ultimately holds pur strings and you know they council could say no to all these projects and if that would happen then it wouldn't get done. I'm not saying that's likely to happen, but ultimately this is a council decision on how those funds are used and whether those funds are applied towards those projects.

So with Long Road, which again is the the most recent example, it's it's been quite some time. uh as that tiff expired uh going into year 10 as that tiff closed we needed to have all those accounts satisfied at that time. So, uh, in, uh, in terms of like a time frame, it it would be, um, no more than 10 years that all of that would have to be set in place. If the TIFFs, uh, you know, reaches its termination and, you know, the city was still holding on to funds at that point, it needs to remit it back to all of the taxing entities that had funds redirected from it. You might not know this off top of your head, so I don't want to put you under uh but the tiff that we previously did a few years ago that did the two roundabouts and the infrastructure improvements up by the high school for those developments.

Um I mean my understanding is that one property development there across from the ice arena is fairly built out. Um that was an $ 8.6 million tiff. Um how far are we along the lines of since that's been built out I think faster than some of the projections. Where are we with making ending that wrapping it up, getting our 8.6 back and fully funding the schools again?

Uh so as far as uh the uh period where we would be looking at for the schools um without any further development, although we have additional development planned, uh we'd be looking at approximately uh 23 years. When we take a look at the original study, we had a 30-year program and the the infrastructure plan moved ahead and now we have uh Weaver Custom Homes developing a property as well. So, at this point, uh we would anticipate uh reaching that 8.7 repayment period sometime uh in the next 17 to 20 years. Uh we'll have to ultimately see how those numbers come in, but that is what we're looking at right now. And then in our tax incentive review council report, uh we broke it down um that specific development. Uh and then you'll see this following year a second one for the other development taking place looking at their contributions and how that affects the the timeline going forward. But that's something that for all of these we will have to or well we will want to would recommend that that we keep a similar trajectory printed published and in place. That's something I would hope our tax and center review council would want to look at. I think that's important for our schools to see too that uh what infrastructure is being delivered and is that infrastructure indeed leading to an increase in revenues versus having done nothing.

Welcome.

So I'm getting a couple of different messages from people contacting me in the last last week or two and one is from the business side. So there have been some prominent business folks in the W in the city of Worcester that are extremely concerned over this. They they see seven tiff zones and they're using the word abuse of this of this um type of financing because I think we're used to seeing here's a tiff zone for a very specific project. let's vote on this for this project. And they're seeing seven. And even though it's not a huge amount of money, this is a significant change in direction from from what we've seen. And so, how would you address that? Hey, we we've had these other zones before for very specific projects that that frankly uh we can point to what they were doing providing infrastructure for much needed housing here in the city of Worcester. How would you address a business owner who's saying those were absolutely needed because we needed the housing. Why are you now dumping seven all at once for a relatively small amount of money? and just in in and address just this idea that we're potentially abusing this program.

So to that critique, I would say there are three specific projects that our comprehensive plan has identified that going through that community process, there's the opportunity to encourage significant redevelopment, reinvestment as well as support additional new development. So in that regard um this is a way to deliver infrastructure faster and by delivering infrastructure faster that means that we can encourage development on a shorter time frame. That puts additional revenues into the hands of not only city government but also county government as well as our schools versus having done nothing. Uh that is again what we're doing is we're making an investment in infrastructure in order to support additional development, encourage appreciation of commercial development that helps to build that tax base up and in doing so that minimizes the burden on existing business and existing taxpayers.

So I'll let me come back to you real quick. I want to just add this though. There is going to be a point though and this is and let me say this is my opinion. This is my opinion. there will become a point where there's going to be tiff exhaustion. And what if we have another major project from a major developer who wants to come in and wants to utilize this program and the public's just had it because we just passed seven new tiffs and they come to you and say, "Hey, we want to build 200 houses, but we need infrastructure help and we need this money." And the schools are going to be looking at you like, "You've taken money here. you've taken money here, you just took another million from us and you're going to take, you know, another several million from us over here. There's going to be tiff exhaustion here at some point. So, I think there's concern from some folks that that want to do business in this city that are looking to the future that man, you're dropping seven tiffs and when the future comes that they may want to take advantage of this program, suddenly there there might not be an appetite to be able to use that program.

So, so there are two points. one um some of the concerns that uh some communities face from businesses is that uh when there are communities that start looking towards tiff there's concern that oh uh opportunities like CRA and enterprise zone might be going away. uh Dublin, which has 41 different tiffs, um for instance, has a policy that they no longer use CRA. Uh but for uh projects that have a direct public service aspect to it, that's not what we're talking about. Our environment is a little bit different. Uh there's still going to be a need to have CRA or enterprise zone on those again basic sector, very strategic projects. When it comes to continuing to utilize TIFF for uh something along the lines of additional development, again, it comes down to um an understanding of what uh TIF is looking to accomplish. And that is uh this is not looking to just simply take revenue to do some infrastructure and yay, some money came out of thin air. These these are real revenues paid for by people's hard-earned treasure, but it is being redirected into infrastructure as an investment that's supposed to pay a permanent dividend. So that developer who wants to do additional housing in the future again would have that same perform. Hey, with this revenue, we forego X amount, but by doing that, we're able to increase long-term revenues many more fold. then I'm going to come back to you on this is that the schools cannot pass a levy and if we're going to keep and and I get it, they're going to keep 100% of current and they're going to get 20% 25% of new. But if we don't do a tiff, they get 100% of current and 100% of new. And if they're trying to build a new building and and

try to get these these young people into a newer safer building and build a full campus or near campus so that they can get everybody kind of consolidated and into safer buildings, the more and more we continue to tiff, the more and more the people are saying the the and I get it. If the schools can't respond, they can't respond. But the city keeps peeling back 75% and then here's another 75% and then we vote on another TI and there's another 75% and yeah there's 25% trickling in but then they keep coming back for our levy and and the and the voters just like we're not passing a levy. It hasn't been close. So that's my biggest concern is that we want to and I totally get why you want to use a tiff. It's it's a great tool, but I'm concerned about the timing. Our school is trying to get a a building built and and this is I think it's really a bad look when we are when the school is struggling so mightily to get that financing and here we are saying here's here's 25% when you could be getting 100%. That's I think that's just a bad look. So in reality again going into the details a lot of these projects the schools will be earning around 80% of those revenues. So this is not a flat 25%. It is a 25% tax revenue that comes in on property taxes and then there's another reimbursement in some cases where we're sharing revenue of 60 70% additional funds coming in from shared income tax. So that's going to vary from project to project. That's why each of those had uh those detailed performers because there there will be revenues that get shared very similar to our enterprise zone program. So we'll say very commonly we'll we'll um hear it

said that hey this is just an exemption um it doesn't cost anything but what's happening in reality is for some of our major projects uh the city of Worcester is taking its income tax and it's paying the full difference of that tax cut to the school district so they are held harmless from that. So they will not be completely held harmless uh in all of this. Uh but again the purpose of this is to generate additional revenue. So on average Worcester City School District has gained because of city infrastructure $600,000 annually because of new construction as a result of city infrastructure, city policies and services that make that possible. We're asking to take 120k of that average 600 to reinvest it into more infrastructure so we can take that 600k make it 800k to make them more solvent. So it is again an investment looking into how this moves forward.

So um Jonathan you kind of touched on it already. So, the way we've used TIFF before, you mentioned Long Road, and we know we have Oakhill with the Spring Run uh development and then Mechanicsburg and Silver Road because of the Clear Creek development. So, we've used TIFF before for new properties coming in to the city essentially and we're taking county roads and making them city worthy, right? This to me is breaking that system by create we're doing infill projects. We're doing items off of our wish list from the comprehensive plan, not something we necessarily need with the extension of Riffle Road. Sure.

Um and you already mentioned that we're So if we're going to take property tax to fund infrastructure, which we already fund infrastructure from our general fund anyways, what's the point if we turn around and remit some income tax back to the school system? I I'm just having a hard time seeing why we're doing this now and what what the purpose is. And I understand uh we're going to lose some potential grant funding or whatnot, but CDBG funding is essentially W one funding. We're not doing exclusively W1 projects here. So, I know I threw a lot at you, but

yeah. No, and and CDBG is ju just one example. um we can utilize that for certain critical infrastructure projects. Uh when we're taking a look at some of thing some of the developments like around the hospital district which um is more than 50% LMI but doesn't hit CDBG criteria yet. Um you know we run into different um programming there that we have to take a look at. Um, but similar to downtown, what we're looking at is an opportunity to increase that tax base again because the more that we can encourage redevelopment, the more revenues that the schools as well as county and as well as our general fund earns. And so that means that when levies have to be brought, a smaller amount can be asked for. Now, as far as remitting income tax and so forth, there is still um utilizing TIFF, there there is still a benefit to the city in being able to reutilize and and capture enough funds to support some of this infrastructure in a meaningful way. So, that is why that's still an option that we felt appropriate to to share. So, when we're looking at all of the investment and time that we put into something like the community development block grant program, again, we felt that this was an appropriate tool to at least analyze and bring forward for proposal as we're watching our our peers increasingly utilize this as well and being able to deliver great infrastructure for their communities as a result.

Yeah. And I think our infrastructure is great and I think the city admin team does a great job with it. I don't want to dimminimize that in any way. I just as far as I've been aware my whole life, the schools are funded with property tax and the city's funded with income tax and I feel uncomfortable breaking that system. I know some of the county schools have already broken that system. That's a different story, but I have a hard time with it in this instance, especially with the points Mr. Abernathy made regarding um you know we we want our local school system to also feel healthy and who knows what's going to happen with property tax down the road. Um and then one last point real quick. So specifically, why is the Apple Creek Bank not proposing a CRA or bringing that before us

for their project? Uh oh, I'm sorry. The CRA?

Yeah, the downtown. I I uh I'll I'll be happy to speak with you about that offline. Um but with any development, there's a review of all incentives that we have a conversation with. So in this case, uh tiff is a very appropriate way to be able to provide some infrastructure that benefits that specific site. Uh we've had other community banks that uh have also developed uh they have not needed tax incentive to to do that. Uh what's unique about this location, however, is that it doesn't have the streetscape elements that other places do and they're making a parade to help expand our downtown further.

Yeah, it that's fine. We could talk more about it. It just seems like the perfect project being a local bank moving their HQ here. A little different than a bank branch. To me,

one of the problems with utilizing CRA uh in in certain circumstances would be if you're relocating employment from one community to another. So, that's where CRA becomes a little bit nebulous to utilize. uh the uh spirit of the program again is to try to support net employment benefits for the state. Now we do take a look at downtowns and we say this is an area that is losing value and in order to retain that and grow that area CRA is an appropriate application there. But at the same time one of the things that we looked at when we did our economic strategic plan was to examine our diversity of our tool set. And so when we're using only tax exemption where we're we're giving away the tax breaks and there's there's not a public investment coming back. Um, again, there's a time and a place for that, but there's also a benefit of use utilizing something like TIFF where you're able to have everybody paying the same tax rate as you know the the other banks and other neighbors are and um at the same time be able to utilize those funds in a strategic manner. in this case, streetscape and improving and expanding our downtown that generates long-term revenues for everybody. So that also for a lot of projects, TIFF is attractive because you might be looking at an infrastructure expense. So instead of taking a tax break where I'm not going to I'm going to have reduced taxes for the next 10 years, hey, I can have some infrastructure taken off my back up front. That saves me money. I don't need to finance that. Or in this case, if it's something that's extra and above beyond what that developer would normally be expected to do, it's still

an added benefit to help accentuate that project and help pull that into the fabric of downtown. Point well taken. It just seems to fit uh the applications that we've seen before and would be a no-brainer. Um M you mentioned ear previously that um the law does not require approval from certain other entities kind of like we had with the tiff we did Oill that you know school board signed off I think the county I mean

you did a lot of work on that and I I know we had people that were involved our partners they signed off on it you mentioned that this because it's 75% in 10 years and nobody has to sign off on it if it's a if it were a higher percentage or longer do they have to do those partners have to sign off like they did before?

They they do. Um we are required and we uh started uh having discussions months ago uh to to get comment on these these approaches. I I know there were some comments said that there's some legal issues that the school is not able to provide comment. That is not true. Um we have had a very good relationship with the school district for multiple years. We've had lots of feedback. Um, sometimes it's informal, sometimes it has been formal. Um, but they would have to the school board would have to vote and the would have to approve it if it were over 75%.

If going over 75% or 10 years, um, approval of the school district is required. And also in certain cases, the county commissioners would also have to consent to anything uh they'd have to consent to a portion of anything over 75% in their case. Then I guess my recommendation would be let's make it 80% for 12 years and see what those people have to say because you're just trying to slide it in without asking without getting their permission. Let's let's ask them. Let's get written permission and then I might, you know, be more interested. I mean, 75% for 10 years is good. 80% for 12's got to be better.

That's, you know,

well, that that would be helpful for the project. One of the things that we examined was should we take a look at a model similar to a 30-year 100% tiff, which is the most common type of tiff in the state of Ohio. Uh so so most communities will will um do a similar arrangement like this but it's 100% 30 years no income tax sharing but a higher percentage of the tax revenues upfront. So that does a couple things. It it provides some additional revenues for um the city. It it's a little bit easier to manage because now we don't have to track income tax. We don't have to share that. It sounds pretty good. The only problem is that you're on a longer time frame now. So most of those projects end up going out to um a large bond financing. And so when that happens, much of the citizens tax revenue then gets gobbled up into interest fees with banks. So when we examined that and were talking with the schools about, hey, could there be a possibility of a master agreement, we found that the framework that the state of Ohio gives us through the Ohio Revised Code, the default framework works really well for our situation because if you're just looking for a shot in the arm to deliver good quality infrastructure, you don't need to take it 30 years and you don't need to invest it all on interest. And at the same time, um, what that ends up doing is it provides us with the ability to utilize those funds, move forward quickly, and then get our partners back to full 100% revenues faster, and again, having that area develop to produce additional revenues that would not have developed in the first place. But

I think what Mr. Myers is getting at is instead of riding the line where we don't need their permission, I think he's saying why would we skate just under that line? Why wouldn't we want to get their permission and make it just really a real collaborative process so that hey, there's there is no mistaking the school supports it. Okay, we have no problem supporting it at that point. We're all on the same team.

So, at this point, we have asked for a comment and we've shared what we feel are the the benefits to the program and to the uh improvements that that provides. Uh I cannot compel a comment, but that being said, um you know, we we keep that door open. One of the other tools that we've utilized is Worcester growth where we have taken certain incentives if we're dealing with uh say tax exemption uh that that's a way to have a separate body where we have the schools involved um provide you know some feedback the kids go under that

but even in that situation we've had cases where the schools have said we abstain and we're not providing comment. So that's again one of the things that we're taking a look at is what is going to be able to we have a comprehensive plan that our citizens provided us with um plans for infrastructure and meaningful development. We have a tool that we feel that can be very advantageous to making that happen on a faster time schedule. And we see mathematically how that could be a very strong benefit not only to the city, the county, but to our school district partners as well, especially when again our city infrastructure has a tendency to create $600,000 of brand new revenue. And that compounds each year at this point since 2019 since 2020, I'm sorry, 2010. 23% of the tax collections in the city of Worcester for Worcester City Schools is because of new construction that has happened since 2010. Without that, that 23% would have to either be cut. It's it's approximately 9 million of the $39 million raised, or uh that would have to be levied on to individual homeowners and other businesses. So from a city standpoint, our role is to take a look at the tools that the state makes available. We communicate that we you know we ask for comments in in recent years. We've not received comments uh whether it's regarding TIF or um even tax exemption. Um but that's you know the one exception being Oakill because that materially involved the school district and also too that infrastructure benefited that specific campus as well.

Okay. Any additional comment or questions? I just wanted to ask you, can you cite to me the uh section of law that you were talking about that we were uh that we would be actually operating under? [clears throat] There are several.

Yeah, we're gonna uh exceptions specifically 5709.40B. So, there are um many different ways that tiff can be enacted and qualified. Uh you have parcel tiffs, you have tiffs that cover larger neighborhood areas, tiff that is available strictly for residential tiff that can be applied to residential development in blighted areas in which uh you can utilize tiff to help a developer finance private housing. um that would probably be something that would be um applicable say in Worcester's uh arts district uh if the opportunity ever arose. Um but the the most common route uh for what we're talking about in this case is uh infrastructure specifically. So this is a little bit different from the residential where we qualified it based on the new proposed development that specific infrastructure was not sufficient to meet that demand. Uh when we're taking a look at 57940B, what we're looking at in that instance is the ability to benefit a general area with new infrastructure. [clears throat]

Morgan, thank you.

Um to play double advocate to a comment by Mr. earlier. I would just say that I'm not sure that all voters were opposed to the school levy purely based on their taxes. I think that um there's also an underlying feel that people disagree with the school's assessment that they need building. So, I wouldn't I wouldn't throw my eggs in that basket. Um I would also like to state or or ask this is a hypothetical, but if you could please clarify, Jonathan, what we would be prepared to do in the event that changes to property tax laws um are made at the state level and that ceases to be a form of funding that we can utilize. Would would these tips then be obsolete? Would everything that we've collected thus far have to be returned and how how would that look?

So, from a practical standpoint um with with what we think may be coming down uh the pipe, uh there have been multiple proposals. One of them is freezing what's called the inside millage rate. So there's there's two types of tax millage. One is you can think of as a dynamic rate or and then another one's like a a flat tax rate. So no matter what your propertyy's worth, uh you know 10 mills of that at least in the city of Worcester limits is always going to be assessed. Um the others will decrease if your property value goes up. And then you have other portions that if the property val if we had another great recession, your property tax can actually increase because of how how that millage is dynamic and and that did happen in in many cities in Ohio during the great recession. So um should uh tax millage be frozen over time you could see an erosion of the benefit of uh of what tiff would provide. And if you got to the point where hey um you know the the benefits are not that significant. Now mathematically there there there would be a benefit here uh you know over the next 10 years in that scenario. Uh but again at any given time council could whether as part of the budget process looking at at uh a specific uh tiff budget or taking a look at TIC comments say hey you know what we don't really need funds for this specific tiff project we can cancel it and any funds that we haven't utilized goes back to the schools and we cease to collect on that tiff. Um there's uh a um another proposal that uh has been talked about extremely simple proposal that says uh that the state of Ohio shall not do any property taxation. Uh so if that were to

pass, uh the next question on that comes into play, would there be court challenges? Is that even legal? Um certainly that would eliminate uh the ability to collect additional taxes going forward under that manner. Um again that's that's a proposal that uh is out there. Um and we'll we'll see if you know that makes it forward. Uh but if it did in order to um accommodate uh the current level of services that we have at both the state level and um you know local levels, you'd be looking at um a uh unbelievably high uh sales and income tax. Uh that would um be essentially catastrophic. So um you know that that again would uh affect all of our programming. Uh again about 15% of our budget uh for the general fund is reliant on property taxation. So um for the most part uh the city would probably be in an okay spot. Um a lot of our other partners at the county and the school would you know be making pivots. Um and and it's it's certainly possible as we look at the future that you know we will see some changes in tax structures over time. But looking 10 years out, looking at some modest changes and some modest appropriate tax reform, uh this would still be a good vehicle to delivering infrastructure. Again, the spirit being we want to open up areas for development and we want to unlock areas like our hospital district so that they can redevelop to generate that additional revenue so that we lower the tax demand on everybody else. I have one additional question, please, Jonathan. Um, this is something that you and I discussed earlier today on the

phone and I thought it was interesting. Um, so if you wouldn't mind briefly touching on um, you know, one of the incentives for this TIFF financing. Um, being that we wouldn't be using bonds to um, pay for some of the projects that we are hoping to to implement. Um and through those bonds you you mentioned that there's also interest that um accumulates so that the cost is actually more significant than we're looking at.

Yes. So like if if um if we're looking at a model where hey we'll take a re you know we'll share more more of the uh property tax revenues um but go for a longer term. A lot of that gets devoured by by interest at that point because um in order to to program some of this infrastructure looking 30 years out at that point you're essentially mortgaging elements and so more of that funding that we're collecting from from all of us from from every taxpayer you me and everybody listening um goes to support interest on that bond. Maybe that infrastructure is delivered and we're enjoying it. um that is the situation that we are in with Oakill. Sometimes that's necessary depending upon the scope of the project. Uh however, for these projects that we've taken a look at through the comprehensive plan, um you know, while while we do look at a large overall figure for each one, these these are more manageablesized projects. So, we're we're looking at about $3 million for uh the bulk of these between the hospital district between um doing additional work uh up with riffle road extension. So, so these these are things that can be programmed brought in where we can if we can utilize additional grant funds. Uh when we are looking at these projects, we're approaching it kind of like a developer. We're we're looking at a capital stack. So, a capital stack being I'm going to have funding from the general fund. I'm maybe going to be able to leverage some jobs and commerce funds from the Ohio Department of Transportation, which are increasingly becoming more complex and competitive. And then, you know, TIFF TIFF might be the thing that helps us with our application to say, "Hey, we have some secured funding for this." And all these things together, we can make a go of that project and get it delivered.

Thank you. Mr. Jose. Yes. So, you mentioned the hospital uh area as one that's right for redevelopment. So, why wouldn't we look at expanding the CRA zone up that area? I mean, we've already expanded it two or three times before.

So, we have anal we've we've had that talked about in our current CRA housing study. So if we take a look at that, you'll see some discussion on um why this area, you know, might might be appropriate for that and and and still very well might be. I mean, if if there is uh some sort of um opportunity to support research and development, um there there could be an argument for creating a CRA at that location. That would probably be something that would be separate from our current CRA. it it would uh practically uh need to be it its own CRA 2 if you will. Um but there has been thought given to that be contiguous.

No. Uh so um you you would have a a completely independent CRA for that hospital district in in that case you you could make it contiguous but uh there there would have to be some justification that we don't we did not see in the data at the time that we looked at it. And again, that'll change each year that the auditor is, you know, doing the reappraisals and reassessments. But, um, could could CRA be beneficial up there? Yes. The problem with CRA, though, is we're taking a look at the types of developments that we have right now are non-basic sector. So, these are businesses that are incentivized to develop because they are selling specifically to Worcester area customers. So, they want to be in the region.

[clears throat]

Maybe they want to be in the hospital district, maybe they want to be on the north end. Um maybe they, you know, maybe we can encourage them though to make a bigger investment in the hospital district if there was less congestion and more access and more travel through there, which could be enabled with some of the infrastructure that our comprehensive plan talks about. Um so unlike um a CRA where it's a tax break uh there there are no monies returned either for infrastructure or no monies going into the classroom. You do have uh you know some private development that takes place. Um you would really want to see something though that would be of the nature of a um uh research and development. And to that regard, we do have enterprise zone here. So, um, again, uh, CRA and enterprise zone share the same code. Um, any other place in the United States, CRA is known as enterprise zone. Um, but that would be, uh, available there today for that basic sector headquarter type project that again, the majority of their customers and the majority of their income comes not from the county, but from outside of the state. uh that that's generally the the test that the state's looking for with that. [clears throat] Um and we could again with our partnerships with jobs Ohio hopefully leverage some additional assistance to make that happen. But for these smaller projects that are taking place uh when we take a look at um say the TWWG development uh that would have some traffic flowing through here. This would be a good opportunity to utilize um a project that's already being supported with uh tax credits uh tax revenues um to be able to recapture some of that and support that with um additional

infrastructure in this location. Again, allowing that to be funded at a faster rate sooner and uh less interest than we would be looking at if we were going a traditional bond route. and uh a much longer repayment term. And Mr. Dordia, do does the city still offer income tax reciprocity? So, we offer credit. Yes. Up to 100% if you Yes. Okay. My point being there's other options than

this one before us. And I'd rather pillage from our own citizens before pillaging from the school system. Well, the school system and the city citizens are the are mutual taxpayer. So, necessarily because there's you you you have a few people are not the same. The vast majority of Worcester City School residents are also city residents. You do have some that live outside city limits,

but again, when when we're taking a look at school district revenues, we are keeping in mind that these are also our our taxpayers. And so, we want to be careful of what we're asking. So, we wouldn't be making this proposal if we didn't feel that there would be a strong return for them both on the school side and on the city side. If if it's going to damage either one or the other, then then that that would not be a good proposal to bring forward. Okay. Anything else? No. Before I close it out, uh Mr. Malta, you have anything you want to add tonight? Mr. Gaffy.

Uh just uh as I was looking over these, I know one of the things that we talk about is the revenue or the sharing of uh employment tax, right? And several of these on the statements, it looks like the uh amount of payroll taxes. Uh some of them are listed as zero in terms of what the sharable amount is going to be. Correct. I just wanted to point that out because I know that was one of the the benefits of of doing these um and it and it looks like on several of these projects that that's not even a it's not something to factor in I guess as we're thinking through some of the stuff.

Yeah. So when uh and this this applies for um anything that involves tiff or if we're talking CRA or enterprise zone as well uh when uh payrolls for new employees are at $1 million which which would for us equate to $15,000 of income tax. uh once $15,000 of income tax is achieved from new people who have not previously been employed in the city of Worcester the previous two years those are considered new people under the state of uh under Ohio law and and that's seen as a gain and so that the state's prescription is hey uh communities cities or uh and it really would be cities in this case if if you are levying an income tax and and you have that churn, we want you to then share that 50/50 with the schools unless you make one of these alternative 30-year arrangements. Um that that happens at that threshold of $1 million. So for um a gas station, you're unlikely to have a million dollars payroll. So you'll see that zeroed out in that case because honestly as we're taking a look at it um we're probably not going to see $1 million of payroll out of that in a given year. Um a lot of other projects if we're dealing with restaurants, if we're dealing with some of the other non-basic commercial um there we're probably very easily going to be uh well over that threshold. And so that's that's where the ask goes from uh 75% to ineffective in some cases 30%. So um again it's going to depend on how much uh these sites actually develop not just in property tax but income tax and those two things together as a whole and then those are shared.

Thank you. I just wanted to clarify the that million-doll threshold is helpful as as we look at all of this. Okay. So, can I do a blanket or would you prefer me to go one by one and leave them where they're at? You mean I leave one second reading reading next? Yeah, you don't have to do anything for that. So I'll give you a blanket on 202516 [snorts] through 22. We will leave it on second reading. [clears throat]

All right. Well, [clears throat] a lot of good discussion. I want to just say real quick, thank you Jonathan again. If if we you're a good man. [laughter] If if if the city of Worcester needs a somebody to go before Congress, you're he knows what he's talking about. [laughter] Like the good news is that whatever ultimately council decides these these are funds that are going to a public purpose. So it these will be spent in a good manner whichever way you go.

But I do appreciate you. You've come well prepared. you you've for the second meeting in a row, you've taken a lot of questions and taken some grief and you've done it with a smile. So, I greatly appreciate it. Thank you. Well done. I got one more after this. [laughter] It's not over.

All right. [clears throat] Uh, we'll move on to new business, which at this point is resolution 2025-65, but Miss Hamilton, you please read it for us. Resolution number 2025-65, a resolution authorizing the director of administration to submit an application to the Ohio Department of Transportation to participate in the Transportation Alternatives Program to accept and apply such funds if awarded and to execute any necessary documents in connection therewith and allowing for immediate enactment. Miss Warden, the floor is yours.

Thank you. Okay, this is a request to apply for funding through ODOT's transportation alternatives program or TAP and if awarded enter into agreement with ODOT to accept the funding and execute any additional documents or agreements with ODOT that are required. These funds would be designated um for the construction of shared use paths along Venture Boulevard and the connection of Clear Creek Park and Walton Woods to existing paths in the area. The project would add 1.25 25 miles of shared use paths to the city's existing network. Projects are estimated to cost $900,000. If awarded, the TAP funding would cover up to 80% of the cost. Um the project isn't even slated until 2029. Um but the application for this is due November 30th. Uh there is no cost to apply. So I feel like we're really off the hook for this and we'll try to make it easy on Jonathan since he's done so much work already. Um so I'm going to move to suspend the rules and place this on third and final reading.

I'll second. Motion to suspend rules, seconded by Mr. Abernathy. Miss Hamilton, please call the role on the suspension of the rules. Miss Warden, yes. Mr. Abernathy, yes. Mr. Jose, yes. Miss Kappic, yes. Mr. Gaffy, yes. Mr. Myers. Yes. Mr. Malta. Yes. Miss Warden. Move to adopt. Motion to adopt. Is there a second? Second. Second by Mr. Abernathy. M. Hamilton. Please call the role in the adoption. Mr. President, I had a quick question. Um, am I crazy or is this in the exact area that we could have tiffed to get this project funded as well down the street from the Clear Creek development?

I think that you're talking about the other 10% to match it. Can you explain that further? So, so we do have a tiff in this location. Yeah. And there there would be a match that would be required. Um, and the tiff that is in place uh could potentially support that because that particular neighborhood has no connection today to the rest of the city. This would actually provide walkable connection to that neighborhood to the city and also take Clear Creek Park and our Walton Woods and connect that to the rest.

The the other fun fact is out of the 90% that would be funded, a good portion of that also gets funded through the Ohio Turnpike revenues that come in and it's an opportunity for us to participate in that as well. And you thought you were off the hook. [laughter] I I hope it's good news, but Yep. [laughter] Thank you. Okay. Well, [snorts] Miss Hamilton, please call the role on the adoption then. Miss Warden, yes. Mr. Abernathy, yes. Mr. Hussein, yes. Miss Kappic, yes. Mr. Gaffy, yes. Mr. Meyers, yes. Mr. Malta,

yes. Okay. Resolution is approved. We'll move on to miscellaneous. Uh at this point, we'll start with Mr. Gaffy this evening.

All right. No, I just uh really appreciated uh reading the citizens academy comments. So, thank you for sharing that. Um there's some very good very good comments about our community and uh even in the section about what do you like least about the city of Worcester, there's some good good constructive comments in there as well. So, definitely uh appreciate that. Um, thank you to all the prospective or all the candidates that are here tonight. Um, good luck tomorrow. Uh, and that's about it for me.

Okay, Miss Warden. Um thank you again Jonathan for all the work not only that you did you know in the preceding meeting this meeting but all the work that you have put into preparing um each one of these ordinances because it's definitely um timeconuming and requires a great deal of knowledge which we're very fortunate to have you. Um I would just also like to wish the best of luck to everyone who's up for um election tomorrow and I hope everyone exercises their right to vote. Thank you Mr. from Malta. As always, thank you all for attending and all those that are viewing and uh yeah, go out and vote. Have a good day. Thank you.

Okay, Mr. Ruse. Uh yes, thank you, Jonathan. You're a great sport. Um hope everybody had a good Halloween and is getting out to vote tomorrow. That is all. Mr. Abernathy,

obviously, uh good luck to our candidates here in attendance. um tomorrow. Believe me, it was just a couple years ago. I was on the edge of my seat, so I know how you guys are probably feeling. It'll just get ramped up tomorrow. So, good luck to all of you. And I I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that it's starting to get real that we're just a few meetings away where we're not going to have Mr. Myers or Miss Kappic here anymore. And I would just want to say that I I've learned a lot from you guys. I appreciate the mentorship and uh you know it's it's not going to be the same without having you guys. I know I still got a few more meetings with you, but uh it it's starting to set in and it kind of stinks, but you know, we got some fresh faces coming along and you know, hopefully I'll be able to impart some wisdom that you guys have given to me over the last couple years. So, thank you for what you've done and how you serve the city. That's all I've got.

Mr. Kappic, thank you very much. Appreciate that. I don't can't speak for Mr. admire, but it's been my pleasure and my honor to uh be sitting here on council very much so. And uh yeah, just a few more meetings and that'll be it. So, but for tonight, I just want [clears throat] to say thank you for everyone who came, everyone who's watching. Good luck to the candidates tomorrow. Don't forget to vote and uh be careful going home. Mr. Myers,

thank you, President Sanders. Uh I want to thank Mr. Hill and Mr. Owens for coming this evening and speaking. Uh, I appreciated the comments you both made and also um I'm really just grateful that I'm not worried about Wednesday this time because it's been it's been three elections that I've had to be in your shoes, those of you who are running for office. I do want to commend all of you for stepping up. Um, I I'm grateful for people being willing to take the responsibility and opportunity to help out and wish you all the best. And I'm just glad I'm not in that shoot in that. [laughter] I think the administration's glad I'm not too. But anyway, thank you very much. Motion to adjurnn. Second. Motion to adjurnn. Second. All in favor signify by saying I.

I. We'rejourned. Thank you all. January shake party