By Sam Wildow
swildow@aimmediamidwest
TROY — The Troy Board of Education approved settlement agreements in regard to land valuations for property tax purposes during a special meeting held on Wednesday.
The first settlement agreement approved was with Pella Troy Operations LLC. The board had previously filed a complaint against valuation for tax year 2020 with the Miami County Board of Revision, requesting an increase in the value of property located at 1501 Experiment Farm Road. That complaint will be withdrawn following this settlement agreement.
Board President Tom Kleptz said there was a question of “what the tax duplicate’s value was and what they actually paid for the property.”
According to the Miami County Auditor’s Office, the total market value for the property is currently listed at $3,369,400. The sale price from September 2020, though, was listed at $11,550,000. Pella purchased the property from RD Dayton LLC.
According to the agreement, Pella will pay a direct payment to the board in the amount of $99,325, which will constitute all tax revenue foregone by the board for tax year 2020. The agreement also includes special calculations for the tax payments from Pella to the board for the next three years that will depend on what the county auditor establishes as the value of the property.
“The value has been locked in for the first two years at the lower rate, and then it’s up to the county where they want to set it at after that,” Treasurer Jeff Price said. “Pella has agreed to hold us harmless through 2023.”
The value of the property for the tax year 2020 and 2021 will be $3,369,400, according to the agreement.
“They will make payments to us,” Price said. The board already received the first year’s payment of approximately $99,000. “Then, depending on what the county auditor sets the value at for 2022 and 2023, there’ll be a calculation made on an annual basis.”
According to the agreement, the calculation for tax year 2021 will be the sale price of the subject property minus the auditor’s value for tax year 2021 multiplied by 35%, the total of which is multiplied by the Board of Education’s millage rates for tax year 2021.
The board then approved a settlement agreement with Auto Real Estate #4 LLC, which is the Dave Arbogast Ford property located at 3230 S. County Road 25A in Troy.
According to the Miami County Auditor’s Office, the market value for the property is currently listed at $2,726,200. Auto Real Estate #4 LLC purchased the property in January 2019 from Carolyn L. Taylor at a cost of $4,505,159, according to property records.
The board’s settelement agreement stipulates the value of the property will be $4,100,000 for tax year 2020.
Price said some of the value in the purchase price was toward the contents within the building, as well as a value attached to the warranty for the new roof. Price added the district is expecting to receive between $15,000 and $20,000 more a year in taxes from this property.
In other news, the board also approved contract changes with the Troy City Support Staff Association (TCSSA). The board’s negotiating team met with representatives of the TCSSA to negotiate a new contract. Those meetings resulted in a tentative agreement on a three-year contract, which would be in effect from July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2024. The contract includes 3% salary increases each year between 2021-2023.
Following that, the board authorized the Southwestern Ohio Educational Purchasing Council to advertise and receive bids for four school buses on behalf of the board.
“We’re bringing you this now because bus costs have already risen five to seven thousand dollars, and we got word last week that they will go up again next week,” Price said. “So we are bringing this to you so that we can make a commitment to the vendor and hopefully avoid the next price increase.”
The district is looking to purchase three conventional buses and one special education bus, all diesel-fueled buses. Two of the buses will be purchased with federal funds, and the other two will be purchased with funds budgeted from the general fund.
The board’s next regular meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. July 12 at the Troy Junior High School, located at 556 Adams St.
