Avon Lake To Receive $15 Million In State Aid

[Bill Call]

The State of Ohio will provide $15 million in cash to keep Ford in Avon Lake:

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index ... on_in.html

which is fine I guess. But why should Avon Lake get all the benefit of that State money? Why shouldn't the State get a return on its investment; perhaps a portion of the local income tax paid by Avon Lake workers? Why should Westlake get all the benefit of a State subsidy of American Greetings?

[David Lay]

Kinda funny considering Kasich is anti-union...

[Bill Call]

Kinda funny considering Kasich is anti-union...

Actually he is not anti-union.

His efforts to reform public employee contracts were an effort to help local schools and cities get some control over their budget process. Take the case of the school treasurer. $187,000 in salary and he pays nothing into his pension that will pay him nearly $6 million in pension benefits; for a school treasurer?

Avon Lake will also be getting a retroactive change in tax law that will save the operators of their new baseball $400,000 per year in taxes.

There is no way to avoid offering cash to keep or gain companies, however the State should require the City to refund a portion of the taxes paid by that company. Why should Westlake keep the millions of tax dollars they will receive as a result of State subsidies for American Greetings?

[Mike Coleman]

True, but I think it's safe to say a fair amount of Ford and American Greetings workers do and will live in Lakewood and other nearby communities and pay income tax to their residential communities as well.