2018 OEDA Annual Summit

Connect with Bricker & Eckler at the 2018 Ohio Economic Development Association Annual Summit.

Wednesday, October 17

• Bricker attorney Rob McCarthy will present "Using Downtown Redevelopment Districts (DRDs) as a Local Economic Development Tool"
  • Downtown redevelopment districts (“DRDs”) are Ohio’s newest local economic development tool. They are also one of its most flexible. Through a DRD, a municipality can generate revenue necessary to pay costs of downtown revitalization by diverting a portion of property tax revenue (similar to a TIF) or establishing downtown redevelopment charges (similar to an NCA). These funds can be used for infrastructure needs or, loans/grants, incubator/accelerator costs, and, in some cases, operating costs necessary for downtown revitalization. We will discuss how communities in Ohio can utilize these new tools. Case studies and example scenarios will be presented to show how Downtown Redevelopment Districts could work given their own parameters. 
• Bricker attorney Chris Schmenk will emcee the Bricker sponsored awards dinner 
  • This annual awards program recognizes the economic and workforce development achievements of individuals and organizations in Ohio.  

Thursday, October 18

• Bricker attorney Colin Kalvas will present "Special Improvement Districts: From Sidewalks to Bus Passes to Solar Panels"
  • Special improvement districts, or SIDs, present a unique way to fund and co-fund development and re-development projects. By creating and partnering with a SID, municipal corporations and townships can create a revenue stream paid by the users most benefitted by development or re-development projects. This presentation will highlight several case studies in which municipal corporations are leveraging SIDs to fund and co-fund innovative projects, including the highly anticipated Columbus C-Pass program. A special subset of SIDs, sometimes called Energy SIDs or ESIDs, can also be used to finance energy efficiency and renewable energy projects to both public and private property through property assessed clean energy financing, or PACE. The latter portion of this presentation will describe how local governments are using PACE to attract re-investment and development in their communities. The presentation will include background on PACE fundamentals and case studies for further understanding. Learning objectives include: understanding traditional SIDs and special assessments, recognizing opportunities to use SIDs, learning how to combine SID special assessments with other sources of revenue, understanding ESIDs and PACE special assessments, and recognizing opportunities to use ESIDs.