NORTH BALTIMORE – John Stewart, president of the Henry Township trustees, recently presented a check for
more than $77,000 to the North Baltimore Board of Education, one of the first "bonuses"
stemming from the newly-opened CSX intermodal terminal.
The trustees have a 30-year TIF (Tax Increment Financing) Agreement with CSX Transportation.
In Ohio, TIF agreements are an economic development tool available to local governments to finance public
infrastructure improvements. With CSX Transportation, its TIF agreement with the Henry Township trustees
locked in the taxable worth of the property on which the intermodal terminal was going to be built at
the time of the agreement with them.
Now that the terminal has been built and is in operation, TIF payments which come from the increased
assessed value of the property are paid to Wood County "just like" taxes, but go into a
separate fund to finance the construction of public infrastructure defined within the TIF agreement.
The Wood County Auditor’s Office then turns the TIF funds over to the trustees two times a year in the
form of "first half" and "second half" real estate settlements.
The Henry Township trustees take each settlement amount and split it 50-50 with the North Baltimore Local
School District with whom they also have an agreement. The TIF check to the school district helps to
make up for the property tax funds it is missing from the increased value of the CSX property.
According to Stewart, the trustees will put their share of the TIF funds into improving roads and
infrastructure since the newly-opened CSX intermodal terminal is located in Henry Township.
Infrastructure can include water and sewer lines, land acquisition and providing gas, electric and
communications service facilities.
Stewart presented a check for $77,436.97 to board President Tami Thomas. The check represents half of the
very first TIF payment which Henry Township received through its agreement with CSX Transportation.
Once the second half real estate settlement is distributed from the auditor’s office to the trustees, the
school district will receive another check.
"It is our understanding that the valuation was not at 100 percent for 2010 (current collection year
2011). Therefore, you may see a slight increase in the TIF collections for 2011 (paid in 2012),"
Stewart read from a letter he prepared for the board. "You might notice that the property was
originally purchased by Evansville Western Railway Inc., but is now owned by CSX Transportation Inc. The
original TIF agreement is still in force and will continue for 30 years."
Stewart thanked CSX for its cooperation in agreeing to the joint township-school district sharing of TIF
funds, which was needed for the accord between the two local entities to be valid.
"(CSX) asked for no tax abatements for this project, and in fact, asked specifically how they could
best benefit the local school district with this project," he stated.
"It is our hope that we may be able to bring similar arrangements to this board of education for
other similar projects that may locate in Henry Township."
In an e-mail, Stewart later explained that the original estimated collection for the TIF was expected to
be around $140,000 for one entire year. Instead, the first half collection has already amounted to over
$154,800 which was split between the township and school district as per their agreement.
"The TIF is twice as much as originally anticipated," he wrote. "The TIF not only helps
the township but helps the school. The township has been trying to be pro-active since CSX came in (the
TIF, planned business district, JEDD and a future EMS building/township offices)." The JEDD is a
joint economic development district which collected income taxes from the people who worked on building
the intermodal terminal and then split them among its members.
As for the school district’s use of TIF funds, they are entered as "other sources of revenue"
into its General Fund budget and will be used for operating expenses.