Lexington Run is one of the eight residential incentive districts set up by the county.
Lexington Run is one of the eight residential incentive districts set up by the county.

By Megan Alley
Sun staff

 

Clermont County utilizes a number of tools to encourage economic development, such as tax increment financing districts and residential incentive districts.

RIDs are similar to TIFs, in that they direct a certain proportion of tax revenue to specific public infrastructure projects in a defined geographic area.

RIDs are authorized by state law and may be put in place for 10 years or for 30 years when authorized by the local board of education.

Local governments generally enact RIDs to help pay for public improvements such as roads, according to Sukie Scheetz, director of the Clermont County Office of Management and Budget.

When an RID is enacted, taxes are redirected to a central taxing authority to be used for specific purposes established by the legislation, Scheetz said.

County commissioners established 15 RIDs in 2005 and added a 16th district in early 2006. Today, only eight of the 16 RIDs are active: Forest Glen, Lexington Run, Enclave at O’Bannon, Glenwood Trails, Vista Meadows, Sunnymeade, Ridgewood Corporation Center and Ross Road, according to Scheetz.

Property that was taxed prior to the RIDs’ implementing legislation continues to pay into the general fund. On the other hand, taxes from new development that post-dates the RID goes directly into the RID fund.

For example, residents of Lexington Run in Batavia Township whose houses were built after 2005 are part of an RID that diverts tax revenue from specified sources, such as the 1.4 mill replacement levy for the Board of Development Disabilities that voters approved in March, to a dedicated RID fund that could only be used for “qualified” capital improvements projects, according to Administrator Rex Parsons, who is also President of the Board of Developmental Disabilities.

“That additional revenue is not going to those levies,” Scheetz explained.

Projects that have been funded through the Lexington Run RID fund are sewer enhancements within the project area and road improvements, including Stonelick Olive Branch Road and the state Route 32 interchange, according to Parsons.

The money also goes to support organizations like the Clermont County Transportation Improvement District, which, according to its website, works across geographic and political lines to improve the quality of life in Clermont County by stimulating economic development through transportation improvements.

Homeowners who live in an RID district receive two annual tax bills; one is a real estate bill and one is a “payment in lieu of tax” bill, Parsons explained.

Total RID collections in the county for 2015 were $2.6 million, according to Scheetz. Total distributions were $1.6 million, and $141,000 went back to the townships.

Parsons says RIDs can be a bit misleading.

“The money represented by residents who live in RIDs is a small part of the money we collect, but when we’re out campaigning, we have to let people in those districts know that their money will not go towards those services,” Parsons said. “To make up the difference, you have to charge the other residents a little more; it seems a little unfair.”

He added, “RID proponents would say that the improvements that are funded through RIDs will enable further developments that will result in added tax revenue.”

Lexington Run resident Shaun House thinks that RIDs are a bit deceptive.

“People are asked to vote on a levy to provide assistance, and they may do so thinking the funds will be going towards those services, but they aren’t,” he said. “It’s like bait and switch advertising, and I don’t think many residents know this is going on with their tax money.”

He added, “I don’t that’s being very transparent with the voters.”