The Collins administration wants to create a new economic development arm for the city, a move driven by the desire to finance $9.4 million in land purchases that could potentially help Chrysler expand its Jeep operations in the city.
The city is working to acquire 4.1 acres across the street from Chrysler’s Toledo Assembly complex and an additional 28 acres also near the company’s North Toledo factory.
Matt Sapara, Toledo’s business development director, said the city needs to establish its own “community improvement corporation,” which is allowed under state law and would allow the city to issue industrial revenue bonds. The new agency also could acquire property, improve property, construct and equip buildings, and incur debt.
The city was previously a member of the Lucas County Improvement Corp., which is now called the Lucas County Economic Development Corp and since has been rolled into the county’s development department. It could issue the kind of bonds needed by the city but Toledo is no longer a member of the agency.
“What happened to the marriage between the county and the city?” questioned Councilman Jack Ford, who was mayor in 2005 when he and County Commissioner Pete Gerken pushed to structure a city-county merger of economic development efforts with the Lucas County Improvement Corp.
Mr. Ford said the city’s non-participation revealed Thursday at a council economic development committee meeting was a “step backward” from regionalism.
The agency has gone through several changes since it was first created nearly a decade ago, including the recent restructuring that removed the city’s seat.
Mr. Ford advised city officials to contact Mr. Gerken about rejoining the county’s agency.
Eileen Granata, senior attorney for the city’s law department, said she was unaware the city no longer had a seat until she recently called Megan Vahey-Casiere, chief of planning and development for Lucas County.
Now the city has some urgency to create its own county improvement agency because of the pending land purchases. Creating its own agency would be faster, Ms. Granata said.
“It’s not unusual and most large cities — there are well over 200 in the state — have their own city improvement corp,” she said. “Plus, there could be a county improvement corp. Locally Perrysburg and Sylvania have their own.”
City-county relations have been strained since Mayor D. Michael Collins announced Toledo would slash what it pays to the county for criminal justice charges by ordering city police to start charging most criminals under state laws rather than city ordinances. It could save the city $4 million to $5 million a year but would mean an equal amount removed from the county’s revenues. Mr. Gerken said the negative impact on the county could be as high as $9 million in 2015.
He said the city could request to rejoin the county’s economic development arm.
“They can make a request through the proper channels,” he said. “We have four seats available on the new expanded board.”
Council could vote Tuesday to create the city agency.
Contact Ignazio Messina at: imessina@theblade.com or 419-724-6171 or on Twitter @IgnazioMessina.
First Published October 17, 2014, 4:00 a.m.
