Columbus City Council last night voted to amend three tax abatements for Short North developers who failed to created the number of jobs the deals required.
The legislation does not reduce the amounts of the abatements. The projects by Pizzuti Development, Elford Development and Schiff Capital Group were required to create 271 new jobs, but only 155 were created. The city says the pay rates reflect its public policy goals, so the abatement amounts are not being reduced. The city also says non-reduction was recommended by the Tax Incentive Review Council. The panel also approved a 1.5 million dollar contract with a private company to expand the CoGo bike sharing program. Sponsoring Council member Elizabeth Brown says the money comes from a grant and covers most of the cost of the expansion, with the rest coming from other governments in the region.
Brown says the expansion will create access to bike sharing for 150 thousand local residents.