$35 million tax break for OSU

[The Straight Story]

$35 million tax break for OSU

Ohio State University's massive Medical Center expansion will receive tax incentives worth $35 million, and a struggling condominium project on the Near East Side will benefit from a $3.4 million city loan.

Columbus City Council members approved both last night during their second-to-last meeting of the year. Each move drew criticism from Near East Side activists.

The council also approved borrowing $27.25 million to renovate the old police headquarters, which has been sitting empty north of City Hall since the 1990s. The project is part of a plan to remake the City Hall campus, including a park at the end of Gay Street, demolishing a city office building at 109 N. Front St. and possibly building a parking deck there.

The city will take advantage of a federal stimulus program that refunds 45percent of the interest cities pay for eligible projects, City Auditor Hugh J. Dorrian said.

On the Ohio State issue, the council approved a rebate of 30 percent of the income taxes that 5,615 new employees are expected to pay once the university completes a $1 billion expansion on the main campus around 2014.

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