North Ridgeville — On Sept. 10, 2025, the city's planning and economic development director presented an overview of tax-increment financing (TIF) use in North Ridgeville and recommended that the city consider adding incentive-district TIFs (commonly called "40(c)" TIFs) to capture incremental value from owner-occupied residential growth in certain areas.

Planning and Economic Development Director Kim Lieber told the committee that North Ridgeville has used commercial/industrial parcel TIFs (often referenced as "40(b)" TIFs) since about 2015 and has 13 such districts. Those parcels have produced uneven revenues: one district approaches $1.4 million in balance while several others hold only a few thousand dollars. Lieber said the city has used TIF funds for projects such as signalization at Bagley and Lorraine Road and to help offset the cost of the Cypress Avenue extension.

Lieber explained the basics: a TIF redirects the increase in property-tax revenue created by new improvements or higher assessed value into a special fund to pay for public infrastructure that supports that development. She emphasized that TIFs are not new taxes: property owners pay the same amount they would otherwise pay, and the city's non-school TIFs are structured to keep school and joint vocational district revenue whole.

Lieber described two TIF types discussed at the meeting:
- Parcel/commercial-industry TIFs (40(b)): Often operate on a per-parcel basis; an ordinance may create a district but the TIF on any given parcel generally starts when an improvement is built and can run up to 30 years from that start date. These are the TIFs North Ridgeville has primarily used to capture commercial and industrial improvements.
- Incentive-district TIFs (40(c)): These capture incremental value across a contiguous district (statutorily discussed as 300 contiguous acres for a district), including owner-occupied residential property. An incentive district requires an economic-development plan and certification by the city engineer that existing public infrastructure is insufficient for the plan. The county has negotiation and revenue-sharing rights under a 40(c), and affected property owners receive notice and limited opt-out rights under the statute.

Council members asked technical questions about how a TIF base value and the 30-year clock work. Lieber replied that the base value is set when the ordinance is adopted; a parcel's increment is the amount above that base value, and most cities start the 30-year TIF clock when an improvement is actually built so the TIF captures a full term of incremental revenue.

Mayor Kevin Corcoran and staff gave examples of prior uses: roadwork tied to Walgreens and the R & K building, Dayton Freight as a revenue source for a TIF district, and partial funding of signal improvements related to Drug Mart. Lieber said staff is not presenting legislation at this meeting; instead, staff sought Council's sense of whether the city should add an incentive-district TIF as another policy tool so it can consider the option when residential projects arise in qualifying areas.

Why it matters: An incentive-district TIF could let North Ridgeville capture incremental revenues from residential development to pay for roads, sewers, parks, and other public infrastructure that growth creates. That can be a recurring funding source for capital projects or to support borrowing for large infrastructure needs.

Next steps: Staff will provide the presentation slides to council and bring legislation if and when a qualifying project or map is identified and the city decides to pursue a 40(c) incentive district.