LAKE TWP. – The Stark County Port Authority, in cooperation with county and Lake Township officials, has agreed to a tax-increment financing (TIF) deal to build infrastructure for a new housing development and the surrounding area.
Addison Properties, a Cleveland-area developer, requested the tax incentive to provide infrastructure for 198 single-family homes on 96 acres south of Lake Center Street NW. The developer will receive a 75% tax abatement on the increased property value for 10 years.
The water main improvements and sanitary lift station are estimated to cost $7.1 million, according to county documents. County commissioners have agreed to loan the developers up to $3.5 million, and the port authority will issue about $5.5 million in revenue bonds.
Stark County Commissioner Alan Harold said those upfront costs will be repaid with the property tax savings.
“It will be paid back with the TIF proceeds as well, just as the port authority bond will be paid back with the TIF proceeds,” he said.
The new public water and sewer service area will extend west from around Meadowlane Avenue NW along Lake Center Street NW and then north along Hoover Avenue NW to Clearwater Park. Harold said it will have enough capacity to accommodate about 1,800 homes, should additional connections be needed in the coming decades.
“The county’s interest also lies beyond the new housing, in expanding our sewer capacity in that area as well, both for new growth and to address septics that will likely fail at some point in the future,” he said.
Harold added that the commissioners were excited to bring new housing options to Lake Township and county residents by working with township trustees and the port authority.
The port authority approved a preliminary agreement on June 25 for the TIF bonds. Michael Naso, the port authority secretary and the director of economic development for the Stark Economic Development Board, said he expects the bonds to be approved at the board’s August meeting.
The port authority, a public economic development entity that is exempt from taxes, will enter a construction administration agreement with the developer to build the infrastructure. Once it’s completed, the county is expected to operate and maintain it on the port authority’s behalf.
“Then at some point in the future, we will dedicate that infrastructure directly to the county,” Naso said.
Reach Kelly at 330-580-8323 or kelly.byer@cantonrep.com.
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Addison Properties secures tax incentive for Lake Township housing development
Reporting by Kelly Byer, Canton Repository / The Repository
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By Kelly Byer, Canton Repository | USA TODAY Network
