Delaware City Council approved two tax incentives Sept. 28 for industrial-related businesses.
One proposal would give a 100%, 10-year property tax abatement to relocate Snappy’s Automotive, now in a suite at 320 London Road in Delaware, to a new facility on Belle Avenue and Liberty Road.
Delaware Economic Development Director Nic Langford previously told the City Council at the second reading Sept. 14 that it is effectively a 65% abatement because the property would still be making payments to Delaware City Schools.
The second agreement approved by the council gives Howald Properties, a Delaware commercial and industrial real estate company that operates an industrial park currently home to Snappy’s, a 100%, 15-year abatement to build a new 39,000-square-foot
industrial building. This abatement agreement would also include about $15,000 in annual payments to the city school district.
That project is anticipated to generate 28 new positions, totaling $1.4 million in annual payroll. The new building is expected to cost about $4.9 million, according to city documents.
Both votes passed unanimously. Two City Council members – Linsey Griffith and Kevin Rider – were not present at the meeting.
Langford previously said that while the Snappy’s relocation will not bring many new jobs to the city, the company is running out of industrial space and moving can be expensive.
Snappy’s is "a homegrown business, and it’s kind of the success story that we want to see,” Langford said.
The new Snappy’s site will be an approximately 11,000-square-foot building on three acres. Building the new facility will cost approximately $3.25 million. All of the 10 positions at the current location will be preserved, with 1.5 new positions anticipated, according to a city fact sheet.
A few City Council members had expressed skepticism about the abatements and held up a vote that would have suspended council rules for approval at the Sept. 14 meeting.
Anna Lynn Winfrey is a reporter for the Columbus Dispatch. She can be reached at awinfrey@dispatch.com.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Delaware city approves tax breaks for Snappy's Automotive, industrial park
