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COLUMBUS, Ohio – Franklin County Auditor Michael Stinziano will chair several annual Tax Incentive Review Council (TIRC) meetings this August.
The City of Columbus TIRC will be held August 19 at 10 a.m. in City Hall’s 2nd Floor Hearing Room, 111 N. Front St. Next, the Blendon Township and City of Westerville combined TIRC will be held August 23 at 2:15 p.m. at Westerville City Hall, 21 S. State St. Finally, the Village of Obetz TIRC will be held Aug. 25 at noon at the Obetz Government Center, 4175 Alum Creek Dr.
TIRCs are councils, required by state law, that annually review and evaluate every tax incentive in the county to see if they are performing as well as agreements stipulated they would. Every municipality that uses incentives is required to have a TIRC. The councils are chaired by Auditor Stinziano and include representatives from impacted cities/villages, townships, school districts, as well as citizens.
The TIRC process monitors the status of each incentive and makes a recommendation to the local municipality as to the efficacy of the incentive.
“TIRCs are an invaluable tool that promotes transparency and accountability for Franklin County taxpayers,” said Auditor Stinziano. “Everyone deserves to know whether these incentives are providing the benefits that were promised and whether they are working as intended.”
The results of all TIRCs are included in an annual report that is compiled by the Auditor’s office. All of the tax incentives are also included in the award-winning Tax Incentive Hub, a one-stop shop for information on every tax incentive in use in the county.
The Hub features GIS maps that show where the incentives are in use, the different types of incentives, data about the incentives, and the legislation that created each incentive. The maps can break down the tax incentives by municipality, so residents can see which are in use in their neighborhood.
The Hub also lists the effects each incentive has on government agencies that depend on tax revenue, and it links to specific information about each incentive at the individual municipality’s economic development website. A downloadable spreadsheet listing information on all incentives is also available on the Hub.
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