A Desperate Chase

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As of February 10, 2011, per Cleveland Heights-University Heights School District officials;

"No formal written proposal has been made to the CHUH School District by the City of South Euclid, although legal counsel for both sides have been having conversations...."

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The City of South Euclid submitted an application (shown below) to the Cuyahoga County Department of Development seeking $800,000 from the Commercial Redevelopment Fund for Cedar Center.

It is unclear what exact date this application was submitted to Cuyahoga County. It was sometime between March 2007 when the property was purchased by the City of South Euclid and December 2008.

Several items of interest:

Question: What are the property taxes on this property for the current year?

Answer: $460,526.22

Question: What is the projected property tax on the site after cleanup?

Answer: $1,210,526.00

South Euclid Oversight Question: Was this 30 year projection of increased tax revenue plausible even at the time this application was submitted? 

Financing

Question #26: Are there any commitments from the municipality or other local resources to contribute to redevelopment costs?

Answer: Yes.

Question: If yes, what are they?

                Source of Commitment / Dollar Amount

Answer: Tax Increment Financing / $13 million (min)

South Euclid Oversight Question: How is it acceptable that the City of South Euclid stated on the application that they had a $13 million “commitment” for the TIF arrangement, when in fact years later they still have not received a commitment from the CHUH School District?  What happens if the CHUH District denies the request?  South Euclid recieved the $800,000 from Cuyahoga County for Cedar Center.  City officials engaged in a series of conflicting answers regarding the loan or grant status of the money.  It has never been revealed how much of that money was received as a loan rather than a grant and must be repaid by the taxpayers. 

Commercial Redevelopment Fund Application

 

Provided below are links to access further information about the Tax Increment Financing (TIF) proposal between the City of South Euclid and the Cleveland Heights-University Heights School District:

• Toxic Tango - February 2011
• Failure To Communicate - December 2008
• Making It Us As They Go Along - April 2009
• Irreconcilable Details - August 2008