The Observation Deck

Officials in Avon are trying to secure tax free status for its new baseball stadium. The City leases the Stadium to a private company. The tax savings would passed on to the team owners in the way of lower rent. Avon officials say the tax break is worth about $20,000 per year. That seems a bit odd.

The Plain Dealer is reporting that the stadium cost $12 million to build. Since Avon's commercial property tax rate is 1.9% the property taxes should be about $250,000 per year. That's quite a subsidy.

Is the new Stadium really only worth $1 million? How can that be? Can the City of Lakewood get tax free status for its parking lots? Why not?

If the FBI is in such a lather over Jimmy Demora's free kitchen counter top don't you think they should be interested in this shady deal?

Why should Lakewood be concerned about this? Well, Lakewood taxpayers send $10 million per year to Avon and Avon Lake and so we have a vested interest in the financial health of those two Cities.

http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf ... exemp.html

I do not understand the tax status of municipally owned properties.

but generally, the city pays to construct it and owns it to attract venues. in this case some new baseball league. The city leases it to some private party to minimize liability issues and to theoretically not have to hire city employees to run the place.

say you order a hot dog. the hot dog guy throws the hot dog to you. you fumble the catch and it hits you in the eye. the hot dog wasn't properly wrapped. you get hot mustard in your eye, requiring a trip to the ER and 20,000 $ of diagnostic tests. the manager of the property is more liable than the city.

Avon is trying to climb through the same loophole that exists for major and minor league baseball stadiums. What’s wrong with that? How do you equate parking lots in Lakewood with baseball stadiums?

I don’t get how 10 mil leaves Lakewood every year to the Avons. Is this the beginning of another rant on the Clinic?

Charlie Page wrote:Avon is trying to climb through the same loophole that exists for major and minor league baseball stadiums. What’s wrong with that? How do you equate parking lots in Lakewood with baseball stadiums?

The Cuyahoga County Auditor’s office traded low appraisals for cash and paid millions for appraisals that were not performed:

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/12 ... rfeit.html

(I guess the company was paid an extra $9 million. The widow has to give back $2 million. Not a bad deal.)

Did something similar happen here?

All Pro Stadium Cost $12 million:

http://www.ifgroup.cc/content/?section= ... 1&page=661

Avon’s application for tax exemption failed to mention there was a new $12 million facility on the land:

http://www.allbusiness.com/government/g ... 198-1.html

Maybe you can help me out with this computation that appeared in the above article:

The tax rate on commercial and industrial property in the county is $55.096 per $1,000 in value. So if the ballpark were valued at its predicted $12 million construction cost, the tax bill for 2009 could amount to $66,000.

If the rate really is 5.5% then the tax should be $660,000 per year. Other articles in the PD quoted Avon officials as saying that the property taxes would be $20,000 per year. Where did that number come from? The commercial property tax rate I found for Avon is about 2%. That makes the tax about $240,000 per year.

A twenty year lease with a $660,000 annual tax break is quite a gift. Did anyone in Avon receive anything for this gift?

Perhaps the FBI can turn its attention away from Jimmy Dimora’s free kitchen counter top for a few minutes and caste its eyes on Avon.

The City of Lakewood must pay property taxes on City parking lots if those lots generate revenue.

If Avon’s State representatives can get a tax break for a minor league ball park by pretending that it is a major league ball park why can’t our representatives get tax free status for Lakewood’s parking lots by pretending our parking lots are really sand lot ball parks which should be classified as minor league ball parks so they can be taxed as major league ball parks?

Assuming we had any representation which is a mighty big assumption.

I find it strange that Avon Schools are silent on this issue. School boards are usually quite active in challenging tax exemptions and tax valuations.

I sent this series of questions to the Avon School Board:

The City of Avon is seeking a property tax exemption for the new All Pro Stadium.

What is the Board's position regarding the tax exemption?

What is the fiduciary responsibility of the School Board in regards to tax valuations?

What is the policy of the Board regarding challenging tax valuations?

Has that policy been followed in this case?

Assuming a $12 million dollar value what will the tax loss be to Avon schools if the exemption is granted?

Did the Avon School Board approve a property tax exemption for the complex? If not, why not?

Did the Board have any discussions with City of Avon officials regarding the proposed tax exemption? If so what was discussed? If no discussions were held why not?

During the last three years did the Avon School Board or its representatives challenge the valuation of any property in the Avon School district? If so please provide the list of those properties and the nature of the dispute.

Will the school district receive anything of value in exchange for the tax exemption?

Do members of the school board have any business or personal relationships with the owners of the team that will play in the stadium or any of its employees of that team?

Did any member of the board receive anything in value from the City or team owners, managers or employees during the last two years? If so what was received?

ryan costa wrote:I do not understand the tax status of municipally owned properties.

The underlying theory is that the economic health of the REGION is enhanced by the size of the paychecks of ball players who live in Florida.

The Plain Dealer has recently come out in favor of tax exempt status for the stadium:

http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index. ... e_leg.html

The PD admits that there must be a RETROACTIVE change in the law for the stadium to be eligible for a tax exemption. What will Lakewood's State representative get for Lakewood in exchange for this RETROACTIVE change in the law?

I imagine our normally snail paced legislature will move into overdrive to get this done. Why?

I still don't understand how the PD can continue to report that a facility that cost $12 million to build will generate $18,000 in property taxes each year. A $600,000 private residence in Lakewood generates that much in property taxes each year.

If I don't get some answers from the Avon School board I'll take a more formal approach to my questions.

Bill Call wrote:The underlying theory is that the economic health of the REGION is enhanced by the size of the paychecks of ball players who live in Florida.

The Plain Dealer has recently come out in favor of tax exempt status for the stadium:

http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index. ... e_leg.html

Funny how the "region grows" as chance to claim success grow.

I also find it odd how often people with bad or little business experience tells us what
is good for business, er the city, er I mean the region.

Almost like the snake oil salesmen have found a region of rubes, er opportunity.

.

Jim O'Bryan wrote:Funny how the "region grows" as chance to claim success grow.

I also find it odd how often people with bad or little business experience tells us what
is good for business, er the city, er I mean the region.

Almost like the snake oil salesmen have found a region of rubes, er opportunity.

.

The Plain Dealer just printed an article on regionalism:

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/12/post_178.html

One item that caught my eye was the statement that new convention centers, medical marts and casinos "don't matter much". What? Aren't the people who are pushing regionalization the same people who pushed these projects and others? Remember the 100,000 Gateway jobs?

Most articles about regionalism mention the need for central planning and the curse of competion. So... the answer is to adopt the Soviet Five Year Plan? Who does the planning? The Jacobs Group? The Cleveland Clinic? Jimmy Dimora?

On recent example of the regional approach was the Star Chamber For The Arts. It was suppose to provide funding for arts infrastructure but instead has been used for bigger raises and better pensions for the Cleveland Orchestra. Surprise Surprise!!!

I'm not opposed to regionalization in theory. I just haven't heard of one concrete idea that makes sense.

I'll be contacting the State latter this week to ask for more information about the All Pro Stadium. Something doesn't smell right.

[quote="Bill Call"][quote="Jim O'Bryan"]
Funny how the "region grows" as chance to claim success grow.

I also find it odd how often people with bad or little business experience tells us what
is good for business, er the city, er I mean the region.

Almost like the snake oil salesmen have found a region of rubes, er opportunity.

.[/quote]

The Plain Dealer just printed an article on regionalism:

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/12/post_178.html

One item that caught my eye was the statement that new convention centers, medical marts and casinos "don't matter much". What? Aren't the people who are pushing regionalization the same people who pushed these projects and others? Remember the 100,000 Gateway jobs?

Most articles about regionalism mention the need for central planning and the curse of competion. So... the answer is to adopt the Soviet Five Year Plan? Who does the planning? The Jacobs Group? The Cleveland Clinic? Jimmy Dimora?

On recent example of the regional approach was the Star Chamber For The Arts. It was suppose to provide funding for arts infrastructure but instead has been used for bigger raises and better pensions for the Cleveland Orchestra. Surprise Surprise!!!

I'm not opposed to regionalization in theory. I just haven't heard of one concrete idea that makes sense.

I'll be contacting the State latter this week to ask for more information about the All Pro Stadium. Something doesn't smell right.[/quote]

Perhaps your nose is out of joint.

I don't think the State has a property tax. My tax bill tells where everything goes, and they are all within Cuyahoga county. Are business property taxes different? If not, why would we, especially one of us who lives in fortress Lakewood and carps constantly when any county or state funds are used in any other community, care a whit about what the people in Avon, which is not in our county, do with their property taxes!

Will Brown wrote:Perhaps your nose is out of joint.

I don't think the State has a property tax. My tax bill tells where everything goes, and they are all within Cuyahoga county. Are business property taxes different? If not, why would we, especially one of us who lives in fortress Lakewood and carps constantly when any county or state funds are used in any other community, care a whit about what the people in Avon, which is not in our county, do with their property taxes!

I contacted the State the other day. The State has a "fiduciary" type duty over the taxable nature of property and their valuations for tax purposes. That is why the City of Avon had to apply to the State to seek a tax exemption for the property. I have asked a man at the Ohio Department of Taxation for copies of the documents and some clarification on the States role He was very cooperative.

The Avon School Board and the Lorain County Auditor have not responded to my requests for information. I wonder why? Someone gets a $650,000 anual tax break and no one's talking? The school board is not complaining?

You would think the Plain Dealer would be a little curious about this.

You would think the FBI would be a little curious about this.

http://cleveland.fbi.gov/

Since I did not receive an answer to the questions I sent to Avon School Board and the Lorain County Auditor I had to make a more formal request.

The State legislature is working on special retroactive tax exemption for the Avon's All Pro Stadium:

http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/bill ... 128_HB_401

Isn't great that our normally snail paced legislature can work overtime when a special interest needs a few millions in tax breaks?