CAMDEN — During a Thursday, Nov. 11, Preble Shawnee Board of Education meeting, Ben Gunderson, Camden Village Deputy Administrator, presented information about the Community Reinvestment Area and other tax incentives the village is wanting to offer and the effects they could have on the school district.
Incentives are essentially to help the village in terms of attracting investment to the village, according to Gunderson. “When people come to the village, they may look for those sorts of incentives. It’s important for the village to offer those incentives so they come to the village, otherwise they’ll go elsewhere.
“It’s keeping us competitive, as well as it’s allowing or creating that desire to invest within the village,” he said.
“There’s going to be what’s called CRA — Community Reinvestment Area — that targets both commercial and residential investments. It’s instituting that desire to invest in the community,” he said.
Gunderson highlighted Tax Incremental Financing, Community Reinvestment Areas, and Enterprise Zones.
“We did a lot of this at my former school district,” Superintendent Todd Bowling said. “This is really a way to build up a community. “It is a way to entice companies, small, big, large when he talks about parcels. If you look at Main Street, you take those buildings, you entice a company to come in there by abating their taxes, so they can afford to move into these buildings. And with that comes jobs for our community. With that comes jobs for our kids. With that company comes families that will move into our community because the more options they have to buy things and do things.
“It does move taxes away for a little bit,” Bowling said. “I think one of the big things that the community will ask is about the employees that work there, that they still pay taxes, and yes, they do. It’s the owner of the company who gets an abatement from the taxes.”
“So this is a prime way to bring businesses back to Camden, to stimulate economic growth in Camden,” he said. “But also remember we make our funding especially in the new, new formula funding that they just put through. We get money based on kids enrolling in our school system. And so, if we create jobs in Camden, or West Elkton if they ever decide to do something like this or somewhere else, that brings kids to our district.”
In other business:
•Preble Shawnee Treasurer Lori Green presented the district’s five-year forecast. Green is forecasting Shawnee will end the year with only a slight deficit, just under $200,000. “I think it’s a reflection of the hard work that we’ve done over the years with Dr. Bishop and the board making smart decisions,” she said.
“The forecast shows increases in all the revenue sources and it’s just the cost of doing business which is higher,” she said of the forecast.
•Board members also approved several donations, including $3,250 for the Beau Singleton Memorial Scholarship, $1,300 from Michael & Cynthia Klapper and family for the Jill Taylor Memorial Scholarship; $100 from Paula Daniel for the Jill Taylor Scholarship Fund; $200 from Alice Bradshaw for the Jill Taylor Scholarship Fund; $100 from Tim & Lena Fritsche for the Jill Taylor Scholarship Fund and $100 from Rod & Ruby Shockey for the Jill Taylor Scholarship Fund.
