In this episode of Marysville Matters:
A weak economic forecast for central Ohio, including Union County
Water & Light development gains regional noteriety
And 20 years later, we provide a view on the state of TIFs in Marysville, in the first of a two-part story
Bur first…
Light snow and potential single digit temperatures have us starting the day off in the deep freeze.
The hazardous weather outlook for Union County includes 2 to 4 inches of snow Friday evening, making for potentially slick conditions throughout the day.
Bundle up and make certain your pets aren’t left outdoors unprotected for too long in this weather.
Chick-in scratch: City gives Chick-fil-A lots of coaching and feedback
For folks excited about Chick-fil-A coming to town, we got a tiny bit more insight into where the process stands at the City Planning Commission this week.
Earlier, we reported that the proposed plan for the site at 1000 Delaware Avenue had been tabled at the December Design Review Board meeting
On Tuesday, Planning Commission member Robert Stillion reported that the proposal received a lot of feedback from the City.
"It was with tons and tons of revisions from us," Stillion told the Planning Commission.
The Design review board tabled the proposal so that the company can come back with another bite at the apple in the next month or so.
So, for the kids in the back seat asking, "are we there yet?", the answer is "no."
We'll keep you posted when we hear about additional developments on the plan.
Meager central Ohio economic forecast for 2025
It's not quite like the ground hog, but it's similar.
For the past quarter decade, Columbus economist Bill Lafayette has offered the annual blue chip economic forecast for central Ohio, including Union County.
“In the 26 years that I've been doing these forecasts, there have been cheerful ones and not-so-cheerful ones. I’m afraid this is a not so cheerful one,” Lafayette told the Columbus Metropolitan Club on Wednesday.
“This year’s forecast is for a gain of a measly 4,500 jobs in our 1.1 million plus economy or 0.4%. That’s only a touch less than the 5,200 jobs that it looks like we got last year. I only wish that we’d come closer to my 2024 forecast. This time last year, I was predicting a gain of 9,800 or 0.9%. Oops.”
He says the problem is the gap between the skills that employers need and the skills the workforce is offering.
“People are coming into the labor force, but are not getting hired,” he said. “The folks actively looking for work are up 30% from last year.”
Employers are putting up postings for jobs that aren’t being filled.
The national economy will be stable, however, but growth is forecast to be moderate.
Water & Light makes regional “top 10” list
Above: Remember the rooster statue that used to mark the Crazy Scotty’s site on North Main? The location is now home to the Silos project (Source: From my archives)
The Silos at Water & Light project in uptown Marysville has made a list of the top 10 projects that will transform the region.
The Columbus Dispatch published a story this week including Water & Light on a list that also includes the proposed Symphony Hall for the Columbus Symphony, the Intel site in Licking County, the Franklinton 2.0 project, and the expansion of Bridge Park in Dublin.
The $100 million Water & Light project received the green light from Marysville City Council in late 2024. It will include multi-family and commercial projects on top of the renovation and repurposing of the old City Water plant and the Grain Silos along North Main Street.
Don’t expect Water & Light to all be built overnight.
The project will be developed in phases over the next several years by Connect Realty.
Plain City chimney fire extinguished
First responders were able to quickly extinguish a chimney fire reported at a Plain City area residence on Tuesday before it was able to spread.
Units from the Pleasant Valley Joint Fire District, Jerome Township Fire Department, Marysville Fire Department, and Allen Township Fire Department responded to a residence in the 14000 block of Adams Road.
It happened just before the 11 p.m. hour. The occupants of the home were safely evacuated before crews arrived.
Pleasant Valley Fire Department is conducting the investigation.
Safety tips
Our cold weather has many of us lighting up our fireplaces for additional warmth.
It’s worth a quick word about fireplace safety from the Ohio State Fire Marshall’s Office.
A chimney fire may produce loud crackling, rumbling or roaring noises and a red-hot stove pipe. These fires can spread to the building itself, causing serious loss and endangering the lives of your family.
Chimney fires are more likely when creosote, a normal by-product of burning wood, collects on the inside of the chimney and is ignited.
The Fire Marshall’s office says these steps will help limit creosote buildup:
Burn only dry, seasoned wood. Using a chimney thermometer will help ensure you are maintaining the ideal burning temperatures.
Avoid slow-burning, smoky fires.
Have your chimney inspected and cleaned every year.
And if you do exp a chimney fire, despite your precautions, follow these steps:
Get out of the house and call your local fire department
Close the stove door, draft opening and damper to cut off air to the fire.
Never throw water on a hot stove.
A chimney fire may damage parts of the chimney or stove pipe. Be sure to have an inspection made of your entire system before you use it again.
How much snow did we get in Union County?
Above: Only 1 Union County weather spotter reported snow fall totals from Monday’s storm to the NWS office at Wilmington
According to the National Weather Service, a weather reporter in the Raymond area reported 1.4 inches of snowfall from the first winter storm that blew through the Marysville and Union County area on Sunday night and Monday.
But that was the only official snow spotter report from the county. The Union County airport’s weather station does not report snowfall to the Weather Service, but 2 inches was estimated.
Southern portions of the county likely received more than the 1.4 inches of snow reported up in Raymond.
How much snow did you track where you live?
Let us know and we’ll report it out.
The storm was enough for Union County Sheriff Mike Justice to implement a Level 1 snow emergency for about 24 hours across the county. And local schools were affected on Monday.
Local prosecutors staff takes oath of office
Union County Prosecutor David Phillips swore in seven assistant prosecutors on Wednesday.
The Prosecutor’s office not only ensures law and order with local law enforcement. This staff also provides legal council for county, township and other local public offices.
Pictured above in the photo shared on the Prosecutor’s Facebook page are:
(L to R) Courtland Perry, Samantha Hobbs, R. Kelly Hamilton, Thayne Gray, Brian Cook, Melissa Chase and Andrew Bigler.
State lawmakers focus for early 2025
Property tax reform. School funding. And revisiting legalized marijuana legislation.
Those are top issues on the mind of new Ohio House Speaker Matt Huffman of Celina as the 136 Ohio General Assembly gets underway this week in Columbus.
All three of those issue touch close to the heart for many in Marysville.
Residents have diverse opinions regarding approval of more property taxes to help fund local schools. And the Marysville Board of Education is caught in between the state and community expectations regarding adequate funding for the education of our children.
We’ll be watching these “reforms” closely as the General Assembly begins its work.
And lawmakers could also be revisiting a citizen-initiative legislative change that legalized the retail sale of recreational marijuana.
The Marysville City Council decided against allow the retail sale of recreational and medical marijuana in the city limits. But Council made the processing and cultivation of cannabis-related products legal under the City Code.
Marysville Matters kicks off “2025 Education Series”
In the next few weeks, I’m going to be sharing content developed with the aid of subject matter experts in our community on some critical, yet complex issues for which we all need to develop a better understanding.
Some of this may require an extra cup of coffee.
But I believe it is necessary to provide fact-based perspectives on the issues facing us, even the boring ones, to help us all make better decisions at the ballot box and in our civic conversations.
My aspiration is to write without bias and to be as fact-based as possible, so I’ll do my best.
Today, we’re starting off with the first of a two-part story that will conclude tomorrow on the state of TIFs in Marysville.
The state of TIFs in Marysville 20 years later: Part 1
Tax Increment Financing (TIF) is a tool used by communities across the state to fund public projects like roads, sewers, and other infrastructure. It allows cities to use future property tax revenue increases from a specific area to pay for improvements within that area.
In simpler terms, as property values increase in a designated TIF district, a portion of the additional tax revenue generated goes towards paying off the infrastructure debt instead of going directly to the city’s general fund, the school district or other entities that rely n property tax revenue.
“A bad rap”
In Marysville, TIFs have been a source of debate, with some residents expressing concern about the impact on school funding.
“TIFs have kind of gotten a bad rap a little bit, the way the information is being distributed around the community,” City Manager Terry Emery recently told us. “If people knew the real and whole story as to why certain TIFs were created for certain areas, I think it would go a long way toward explaining the positives that [existing] TIFs have created.”
We took Emery up on the challenge and did some of our own research on the history of TIFs in Marysville and where things stand today.
Rewind 20 years to 2005
Back in 2005, the city faced a critical situation with its wastewater treatment plant. The plant was in dire need of repair, described as a “complete disaster.” The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was pushing the city to address the problem, and the cost of building a new facility was estimated at a whopping $79 million.
City leaders were in a bind.
Raising sewer rates by 30% each year for several years was an option, but that would have placed a heavy burden on residents at that time.
Instead, leaders from the city opted to use TIFs as a way to finance the new wastewater treatment plant. This decision allowed the city to avoid drastic sewer rate increases while ensuring a crucial infrastructure upgrade.
The school board was also aligned.
And more importantly, it aligned with the City’s goal for new development to pay for itself.
Over the next decade or so, the city established nine residential TIFs and two commercial TIFs to fund various infrastructure projects. These TIFs helped to ensure the project's completion without placing an undue financial strain on residents. And the new commercial TIFs are focused solely on roads and other related infrastructure improvements.
However, the use of TIFs has also meant that a portion of property tax revenue from designated areas has been diverted to infrastructure projects instead of going to the school district and other agencies.
And all of this was occurring during a period of time when the state legislature pushed more financial burden back on local governments and on public education.
Many residents feel the TIF agreements of the past have contributed to the financial woes of the Marysville schools, which now face a “make or break” levy attempt in May.
In total, over $31,657,070 has been directed back to the school district through TIF payments, representing about 38.68% of the overall TIF revenue generated.
Moratorium on residential TIFs
In response to ongoing discussions with the Marysville Exempted Village School District, the City Council has taken a significant step by placing a moratorium on any new residential TIFs until the end of 2025.
This decision, the city says, demonstrates its commitment to working collaboratively with the school district and exploring alternative funding mechanisms for future infrastructure projects.
Meanwhile, a citizen petition has placed a charter amendment on the May ballot that would require the school’s approval on any future TIFs.
To be continued…
Tomorrow, we will take a look at how the specific TIFs are performing and look at what is on the horizon.
Thanks for reading Marysville Matters!
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We have a ton of brilliant people in our community who make the gears of government work in our favor. And we have passionate residents whose responsibility it is to hold each other accountable with facts.
My mission is to create easy-to-read content focused on timely, local news and information. You may not like what I write sometimes, but that’s OK. Or you may have an additional fact-based point-of-view you’d like to add to the conversation. My door is open.
Not only will I cover local news of origin, but I’m also pulling in news from outside of Union County that will have a bearing on our daily lives. Hence, the coverage of the Columbus Metropolitan Club Blue Chip Economic forecast today.
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Have a great Thursday!
-Joe C.
Bravo, Joe, for beginning to tackle a subject like TIFs so that folks -- at least those who have a genuine interest in understanding the subject -- can begin to get to a basic level. Facts matter and are ignored at one's own peril.