EUCLID, Ohio — Euclid City Council is considering a special tax district to fund a park-to-park trail as well as other improvements along Euclid Avenue.
Euclid Mayor Kirsten Holzheimer-Gail introduced legislation pertaining to the potential project at the city’s most recent City Council meeting.
Her efforts would allow for the city to pay for the off-road trail that will connect the Cleveland Metroparks’ Euclid Creek Reservation to Euclid’s Hero Park.
“We're planning to do a multi-purpose trail along Euclid Avenue which basically would be a 10 foot wide trail in place of the sidewalk along the south side of Euclid Avenue,” Holzheimer-Gail explained. “It's in line with our Euclid Avenue Transportation for Livable Communities Initiative Plan. It also connects very well with the Metro Parks Greenway trail connections, which is working to connect Euclid Creek Park to Euclid Beach Park. It really fits in well with some of the other planned improvements.”
The project is estimated to cost $1.8 million.
To fund a portion of this idea, a tax increment would be cast on landowners from the NEO Sports Park to Heritage Business Park, which includes Eaton Aerospace.
However, that does not mean a new tax assessment.
“It basically captures the increased tax that's paid as your values go up. So, the property values are set this year and then as the values go up, that additional tax that you will be paying due to the increase in property values gets moved to a separate fund that is only used for improvements in the area,” Holzheimer-Gail stated.
The portion of property taxes that goes to Euclid City Schools will not be impacted, according to Holzheimer-Gail.
“It's an exciting project that helps us further our mission and our vision of making sure you could stay as a strong community. We're excited to continue plugging away project by project all over the city,” she added.
Currently, the properties in the proposed district are mostly commercial. It does include a handful of homes and an apartment complex.
The tax increment will last 30 years.
“It'll be a piece that helps us get there. Many of our projects we do really layer on multiple funding sources. We're fortunate we are a block grant community. We get our own community development block grant funding. I imagine we'll work with the county and work with the state and apply for funding in many ways to make this happen,” Holzheimer-Gail noted.
Holzheimer-Gail said the 30-year tax increment can be used for more than just the multi-purpose trail.
Legislation shows it can be used for a wide variety of improvements, including but not limited to curbs, sanitary sewage, and street parking facilities.
If the legislation passes, Holzheimer-Gail said the goal is to move on the project in 2025.
The ordinance is in the early stages, and the next step in the process is a committee hearing to review the finer details, which is set for Oct. 30.
