Developer agreement also sought for new business at OMNOVA site
By Kevin Boneske
Staff Writer
HOWARD – After meeting in closed session Monday, Jan. 28, the village board voted to create the ninth Tax Incremental Financing (TIF) District in Howard.
The site is at an 83.305-acre lot at 1701 Cornell Rd., where OMNOVA Solutions announced last June it will be closing its plant this year.
Chris Haltom, village director of administrative services, said the board also directed village staff to pursue a developer agreement for the property in an effort to attract a business with an interest in possibly locating at where TIF District No. 9 would be established.
Haltom did not identify the business considering a move at the site in Howard where OMNOVA plans to close the plant that opened in 1993 and move its production of styrene butadiene emulsions to its facility in Mogadore, Ohio.
However, Haltom noted the factory OMNOVA will be closing could be kept as is without major modifications should the interested business locate there.
He said the TIF District at that site would be the “pay-as-you-go” variety and not involve the village borrowing money.
Haltom said the village has been in contact with two financial services companies, Ehlers and Baird, regarding the creation of the TIF District, which he expects would take two to four months to establish.
By creating a new TIF District, tax revenue raised from new property value could go toward paying off the TIF debt, instead of the additional property tax revenue having to be split among the various taxing entities in Howard.
Haltom said a board comprised of representatives of those taxing entities would also have to approve the creation of the TIF District.