Waterville, Waterville Township: Annexation, tax contract extended
3/9/2005Waterville and Waterville Township have revised a 1997 annexation and tax-sharing agreement, extending the amount of time the two entities will share taxes and altering how the taxes will be split.
The agreement sets aside township land around the borders of the village that may be annexed into Waterville without objection from the township.
After the land within the tax sharing area is annexed, the village will keep the payroll tax it collects but will share its property tax revenue with the township.
Under the original agreement, the village was required to give all property tax revenue from the annexed land to the township for a period of 15 years. The new terms say that the village will give the township half the property tax revenue from annexed land for 30 years.
The village collects 3.2 mills of property tax.
"It's less of a burden on the village to not have to give over all the revenue, and I think it's a much better deal for the township," said Walter Celley, township solicitor.
"It can easily take 10 to 15 years to get a development built, so just when the development was built and at its highest value, our revenue sharing would have run out."
The agreement between the village and township also says that the village will not annex any township property outside the tax sharing area for the next 30 years.
Some township residents who live outside the tax-sharing area said they are concerned about the agreement because they will not be able to get water from the village for decades.
Trustee Les Disher said the township is in negotiations with Whitehouse and Lucas County to provide water to parts of the township.
"Sooner or later, areas of the township are going to get water," he said. "My main concern with this agreement was to make sure the township was getting their fair share of revenue."
The revised agreement slightly shifts the boundaries of the tax sharing area to match us with the proposed U.S. 24 bypass.
"The bypass when it's built will be a pretty clear natural boundary," said Jim Bagdonas, Waterville's village administrator.