Pickerington Area Taxpayers Alliance

For those folks that think Lou Postage was going to widen route 256 to allow more cars onto I-70 they were wrong. In fact, they plan to place yet another light in our path to work every morning to pinch off Pickerington if too many of us are trying to get to work to pay the Ohio Taxes that built the damn freeway in the first place.

Let me tell you want they are actually doing and that is making it easier for you to get to Wal-Mart for all your Christmas shopping. Isn?’t that just special now? How do we get into these deals where we pay and another school district and city receives that tax revenues?

The fact is Wal-Mart was given a 30 TIF which I believe is nearly 100% of the improved value of the store. That means Reynoldsburg receives the real estate taxes that would have been normally paid to their school system and our violet Township Fire Department. Remember we just started paying the increased levy we passed last year ($80 per $100K home) for the Violet Fire Department. That area of the township has the most runs of any other part of this fire district. So we provide Reynoldsburg and Wal-Mart fire Protection yet Pickerington and others in the township receive no tax benefit from this development. Reynoldsburg does receive income tax from the employees.

So last year Lou Postage said he was going to work with ODOT to fix the traffic problems at Route 256 and I-70. The only thing ODOT is fixing is the traffic flow to and from Wal-Mart. They want to charge the tax payers of Pickerington $150,000 for this project which will be done before Thanksgiving. Let?’s see when is the heaviest shopping day? Joyce Bushman can take full credit for this debacle because she is so proud of her accomplishments. I suggest once the Tussing Road bridge opens some day that she get her butt out of bed and drive into Columbus to see what we are all facing each morning.

Isn?’t it reasonable that Wal-Mart, the developer, or the City of Reynoldsburg pickup the expenses of this project? They are ones receiving tax income and profits from more cars being able to get to their stores. In fact Pickerington will probably be throttled down even more because ODOT wants control over the traffic signal at Route 204 and route 256. They want to coordinate the lights on both sides of the freeway. I think in their minds they don?’t want to over load the I-70 west bound in mornings.


P.S. there are now 350 approved building permits and 292 building permit applications waiting for approval. Total equals 642. How many of these will have cars heading off to work at 8:00 AM ?

By William

Developer is contributing

William,

I sit on the Wal Mart TIF commission as a Violet Township representative. The traffic problem issue solution WAS INITITATED by the developer of the Wal Mart area properties, Noble Properties from Atlanta, Georgia. Noble paid for the engineering and traffic study to improve the intersection at a cost that is NEARLY TH SAME as Pickerington's share of the upgrade cost. Let me make it clear that any claim by Pickerington that they inititated this fix is false, as it came from Reynoldsburg and the developer only.

Frankly, if you would have waited for Pickerington to do anything about it, it would have taken as long as a city initiated housing moratorium would and you and I will be very old by then won't we.

There is land in the PLSD and Violet Township that receives revenue from the development now and will in the future. Three quarters of the Sam's store is in the PLSD and is not part of the TIF. Some of the new development near this area that will be installed this year is in the PLSD.VIOLET also and is not part of the TIF. The land behind Logan's Roadhouse, slated for two major retail tennants and associated small retail and offices are in the PLSD/VIOLET and not currently in any TIF. The Reynoldsburg School district is trying to get this land to be placed in their district at the State level, PLSD has objected. The sTate board asked Reynoldsburg to withdraw their request and they refused. So the state WILL NOT move the land into the Reynoldsburg district unless both parties agree. It will remain at a stalemante indefinitely as long as PLSD does not agree.

The city of Reynoldsburg is considering making it;s boundries the same as Truro Township. If this happens, all the land in the WalMart area and behind Logan's would be removed from Violet Township. Any revenue this area generates for the fire department now or would in the future in the non TIF areas that will develop will be lost. I think the Township projects this at several million dollars currently, more as development increases in the non TIF area. The apartments near wal mart generate a commercial level of revenue to the Township and PLSD schools and they are not in the TIF. This is why this loss is several million dollars. Of course, they would not have to provide service to this area as the primary server if Reynoldsburg does this, as Truro would become the primary fire and emergency provider. The Township needs to do a cost benefit analysis to determine the impact of this move. By state law theTownship has no legal standing to object to this land grab by Reynoldsburg. Personally, I cannot envision any fire department losing several million dollars easily.... in this economic environment, even if the service area is reduced.

So bottom line the developer proposed and paid for the engineering of this solution, of course with the health of his development in mind. It is simply a band aid and the rate of growth in Pickerington will soon overwhelm this road improvement in the short term as ODOT has stated such. A big ticket improvement is needed, and of course it will come too late and the traffic nightmare will continue to spiral out of control.

Reynoldsburg is too

One more thing, Reynoldsburg is paying part of the cost of this upgrade too. I think they asked Violet to contribute also, but I am not sure where that stands. AS it plays out the cost is nearly equally shared by all parties including the developer. Of course if this was all in Pickerington, the developer would not have to pay a cent as that is the track record for the city, I cite this example because other municipalities do business differently than Pickerington. Reynoldsburg and Canal Winchester are two that require developers to contribute, especially if they get any tax incentives.

Developer should pay everything

Ms. Ross,

You make a couple of assumptions that are not correct.

Your first assumption is that this Route 256 and I-70 rework helps get workers from Pickerington, Violet Township and Park Place onto the freeway (westbound toward Columbus) faster in the mornings. It does not. In fact it will impede the area resident?’s ability to get on that west bound ramp.

Second assumption is that the township is kicking in on the project. They are not.

Clearly by your statements everyone in the area receives tax revenue from the Wal-Mart development except the City of Pickerington. The changes to the interchange only help to get traffic to and from the Wal-Mart complex.

If they are not going to address the Pickerington area traffic problems going to work at 8 AM and then the return trip back home at 5 PM then I see no reason for Pickerington to contribute one dime to the project.

Without knowing who the developer was you could tell that they slanted the changes to best help those of you in the township that will benefit from the 75% TIF and future tax revenues. Obviously to be fair here the Township is the only government south of I-70 that is being benefited by the project. The changes will destroy the Turnberry Shopping Plaza as far as access goes. If the developer, The City of Reynoldsburg, Violet Township, and ODOT want Pickerington to pay part of the project then show us where we will benefit and where they are addressing our problems.

ODOT refuses to consider adding a third lane onto the West Bound entrance ramp. They want control over the light at Route 204 and Route 256 where they can throttle down the traffic so that our wait is even longer. If the township or Reynoldsburg develop the area behind the Logan Road House then they should consider also paying for access roads prior to the final approvals. Obviously this helps the PLSD but that is the township?’s area not Pickerington?’s. Remember Route 256 is a state highway and ODOT has a responsibility to keep it flowing also. I looked today and there is room for a third lane from Route 256 all the way down to Hamilton Road on I-70. That would get the Pickerington Traffic around the Brice Road (Reynoldsburg) traffic on I-70 and they all could merge before they got to Hamilton Road.

The problem we have here is that most of those that make the decisions are not sitting in the traffic each morning and evening. Obviously Lou Postage did try to take credit for fixing the traffic problem but people will see before the election that his fix will not work. Obviously the Wal-Mart developer wants to protect his investment and they have paid for the study to create a more acceptable flow to and from their store. Clearly if the Township is going to receive tax revenues from this re-alignment then they should be ones paying for the re-alignment not Pickerington.

It is time those of you that are benefiting from this project (tax wise) to deal Pickerington in if you want our money.


By William