Prepared Comments Made to
NORTH CANTON CITY COUNCIL
June 25, 2007
Two weeks ago on June 11, 2007, I questioned before this council the decision of the North Canton CIC to purchase a ½ acre property abutting the rear parking lot of Abbott’s Bridal Shop for additional parking needs to benefit private business. The need for expanded parking at the rear of Abbott’s is the only hurdle to the property owner for leasing 11,000 sq, ft. of office space to the Service and Support Administration of the Stark County Board of MRDD and bringing 70 jobs to the city.
The four-year lease, with an on option to renew for one year will generate $428,450 for Mr. Randall McNurlin. In Mr. McNurlin’s own words before the CIC, this was net revenue. The CIC will be expending $115,000, not including engineering and other soft costs, for the purchase and development of the ½ acre parking lot. These are funds that were removed from North Canton’s General fund and given to the CIC. The CIC will recoup from Mr. McNurlin $1.00 per year over the five-year span of the lease and be left owning a landlocked parking lot with no value at the end of the lease.
This handout of what was once taxpayer dollars to benefit the private business interests of Mr. McNurlin is not the first time the owner of Abbott’s Bridal Shop has benefited from taxpayer assistance.
I call it a part of the city’s genealogical history. Paul Harvey would call it “The Rest of the Story.”
I have learned the following from a search of city records: In 1998, the City of North Canton purchased the property on which Abbott’s Bridal Shop is now located for $180,000 and paid $9,600 to clear several structures from the property. These figures do not include appraisal costs, survey costs and other soft costs required in the purchase of the property. The property consisted of 1.51 acres. The city subsequently sold 1.26 acres to Mr. McNurlin and carried a no-interest note on the sale of the property for him.
The North Canton City Council passed the legislation to sell the property on “an emergency” on December 14, 1998. In city council minutes from the meeting Council member Jon Snyder is quoted as saying “…it’s a win, win situation for the city. And my compliments to Mr. Sumser for putting it together.”
After months of delays on the part of Mr. McNurlin to finalize the purchase of the property, the following comment were made by council members in a council meeting held on May 10, 1999. Council member Tim Morrow stated “…We have—you know there’s a valuable piece of Main Street property…we spent taxpayer dollars to tear this down…."
Mr. McNurlin subsequently finalized the purchase of the property on July 14, 1999.
After Mr. McNurlin received a “moving credit” of $65,000 from the city for business moving expenses, his net cost for the purchase of the property was $50,000. Mr. McNurlin became owner of a “valuable piece of main Street property” for a fraction of its true costs at the expense of North Canton taxpayers.
At the May 10, 1999, council meeting, Council member Doug Foltz is quoted as saying “…It’s a sweetheart deal for him….” The vote by council, “on an emergency,” to sell the property to Mr. McNurlin was unanimous. Is that any surprise?
Yes, Mr. Foltz, it indeed was a sweetheart deal.
How many other business owners would like to acquire frontage on Main Street for a fraction of its costs?
The city used the rear portion of the property, approximately ¼ of an acre, to locate a water storage tank that water distribution studies have identified as a less than an ideal location for a water storage tank.
The poor location for this South Main Street Water Storage tank is due to low ground elevations that have been acknowledged only recently by this administration. I thank Mr. Wise for his candor in this regard as past city administrations have denied there are problems.
As we all know from grade school, water does not flow uphill. Why city council approved this location for construction of a water storage tank does not speak well for their grasp of basic principles of physics. The construction of the water storage tank at this location received unanimous approval from City Council.
The owner of Abbott’s also received waivers for sewer frontage fees and water tap-in fees totaling $5,021.00. Additional zoning variances were given including reduced parking size requirements.
In 1999, the City of North Canton gave Mr. McNurlin a five-year, fifty percent abatement of taxes on the Abbott Bridal Shop property. Unfortunately, the city was not able to provide any documentation as to the amount of taxes that were abated. From the outset, it appears from the records that Mr. McNurlin failed to comply with the terms of the original five-year tax abatement. That abatement was amended to a three-year, fifty percent abatement of taxes. I was unable to determine whether the terms of the amended tax abatement were ever met as well, but as we have seen from ongoing tax abatements, the tax exemption continues whether there is compliance with the terms of the agreement or not.
It is interesting to note that the city also could not provide any kind of estimate in terms of income taxes that have been collected from business activity from this property yet the city was quick to provide estimates of the income tax that would be collected if MRDD relocated to the office space located below Abbott’s Bridal Shop.
In summary, the assistance to the owner of Abbott’s Bridal Shop has ranged from “sweetheart” deals to outright giveaways at taxpayer expense. These actions, past and present, are a blatant slap in the face for North Canton taxpayers who are subsidizing financial gain for private interests. Furthermore, other business interests throughout the city do not receive the same corporate charity that has been lavishly showered on Mr. Randall McNurlin.
At 1280 South Main Street, the business owner has received the following: deep discounts for purchase of Main Street property, waivers of fees, no interest loans at taxpayer expense, exemption of property taxes on commercial property despite noncompliance with terms of the agreements, free use of property and property improvements at the expense of others. All of these giveaways are at taxpayer expense and create unfair advantage between businesses that operate without handouts. None of this speaks well of city leaders who promote the city in this manner.
It is a sad thing to watch the abuse of public monies in this manner.
This is North Canton’s past practice and it continues today. Something is wrong!!
Thank you,
Chuck Osborne
Resident
City of North Canton
Monday, June 25, 2007
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