Heath Hills TIF Would Divert Up To $46,768,714 From Licking County Services
Mayor John's Tax Increment Financing (TIF) plan redirects property-tax payments needed to maintain Licking County health services, seniors, parks, and vocational school into a fund Heath controls — that will be consumed almost entirely by a $21.5M municipal bond and interest payments to M/I Homes at 7% (compounded monthly).
Rather than discuss this with the citizens who depend on these services, Mayor Johns has scheduled the financial details for a closed executive session on June 29. The draft development agreement does spell out the 30-year term and 7% interest rate — but it does not lay out the most important specifics: which services lose their revenue, how much is diverted in total, and that with a $21.5M bond repaid first, M/I Homes may collect interest for the entire 30-year life of the TIF — and still not be fully repaid.
Estimates use the published farmland tax split for the Heath Hills parcels, applied to new home values at the jurisdiction's effective millage, with homes ramping in over a 9-year buildout. Granville Schools are held harmless on the TIF itself — see their separate funding crisis on the Financials page.
Follow the Money
Track 30 years of property tax payments from new Heath Hills homes. Toggle between what services would receive and what the TIF plan diverts.
Schools (~60%) are excluded — see Financials.
M/I Homes pockets $25,268,714 meant for Licking County services — on a loan of up to $6M.
The agreement lets Heath reimburse M/I Homes for roadwork up to $6,000,000, drawn from the TIF at 7% annual interest. The model assumes the full cap is drawn, so M/I's debt compounds the whole time the TIF repays Heath's own $21,500,000 bond first* — quietly growing from $6,000,000 to $18,652,023 before Heath even starts to pay it back. At the default figures, M/I is never fully repaid within the 30-year TIF — it is still owed $6,321,236 at year 30.
* The $21,500,000 is the City of Heath's up-front infrastructure bond (sewer/electric lines), repaid first out of the TIF before M/I Homes receives anything. Because this bond is so large, it consumes the TIF increment for roughly the first 16 years of the 30-year term — during which M/I's roadwork reimbursement (up to $6,000,000, modeled at the full cap) compounds at 7% annually.
What about Granville Schools?
The TIF "holds schools harmless" with compensation payments — so Granville EVSD isn't robbed by the TIF directly. But being protected from the TIF is cold comfort when the $2,810,216/yr in new tax revenue is a fraction of the $12,000,000/yr cost to educate 840–1,000 new students. That's a separate, enormous crisis.
The Agreement Names the Price — But Hides the Victims
The draft development agreement confirms a 30-year TIF and the 7% developer reimbursement. But the specifics of the TIF diversion itself are not spelled out. The public does not have:
- •Which taxing entities' growth is diverted into the TIF, and at what frozen baseline
- •The total dollar amount diverted away from county, township, and park services over the 30-year life
- •A public cost-benefit analysis showing the impact on every service that loses revenue
- •Any commitment to share revenue with the schools or township that bear the burden
- •Whether M/I Homes is ever fully repaid within the 30-year term — at current figures, it is not, meaning Heath's own general fund may see nothing at all
Instead of answering these questions in public on June 29, the Mayor wants to discuss them in a closed executive session. These are exactly the financial terms the public — in both Heath and the rest of Licking County — deserves to hear debated in the open.
Figures are estimates derived from the published farmland tax distribution for the Heath Hills parcels, applied to new home values at the jurisdiction's effective millage, with homes ramping in over a 9-year buildout. The City of Heath's up-front infrastructure bond (~$21,500,000) is repaid first out of the TIF, so M/I Homes' roadwork reimbursement (up to $6,000,000) compounds at 7% (compounded monthly) the entire time Heath is being made whole. The model assumes the full $6M cap is drawn; at the default figures, the TIF cannot repay both the bond and M/I within 30 years — meaning M/I Homes is still owed money at year 30 and Heath's general fund receives nothing. Granville Schools receive TIF "compensation payments" and are shown as protected; their operating shortfall is detailed on the Financials page.