(A) The Ohio Enterprise Zone Act restricts the use of tax incentives for projects that relocate all or a portion of an existing Ohio facility’s employee positions or assets to another site. An Enterprise Zone certified under R.C. § 5709.632 can consider an intra-state project only if the ODOD Director issues a waiver of the relocation provision according to R.C. § 5709.633(B). The business and the municipality, when considering a relocation project, must formally petition the ODOD Director requesting a waiver and providing documentation that the waiver conditions are met. ODOD must respond to the request within thirty days of receiving the petition.
(B) The specific conditions under which the ODOD Director can issue a waiver are set forth at R.C. § 5709.633(B) and include:
(1) The business cannot physically expand at the current site to the extent necessary for the proposed project.
(2) Market conditions such as just-in-time supply, changes in production methods, changes in special contract provisions, or ownership changes that require a relocation of the facility for it to remain viable.
(3) The business is subject to a consolidation of two or more existing facilities and meets one of the following two standards:
(a) At least one of the facilities involved in the consolidation is not an Ohio operation and the project would result in at least a 25% increase in the existing Ohio employment and at least a 25% increase in the existing value of the business’s real or personal property at the site.
(b) All of the facilities involved in the consolidation are located in Ohio and the project would result in at least 25% increase in the existing Ohio employment and at least a 50% increase in the existing values of real or personal property of the Ohio facilities involved in the relocation.
(Res. 2000-41, passed 9-19-00)