City of Brunswick and Brunswick Schools enter into a revenue sharing agreement

BRUNSWICK — Brunswick City Council passed a resolution to enter into a revenue sharing agreement with Brunswick Schools to compensate the district for lost tax revenue during its meeting on Monday. Brunswick's Finance Director Todd Fischer said state law requires the city to share income tax with the school district in certain instances. For example, Brunswick offers Community Reinvestment Area agreements to local businesses, which are tax abatements. If the payroll of new employees from the business exceeds $2 million, the city has to share 50 percent of the income tax it receives from the business with the schools. "If we abate property taxes for a new business, that's how the schools get most of their money, the law requires us to share some of our income tax dollars with the schools," he said. The state Legislature recently increased the revenue sharing threshold in these instances from $1 million to $2 million, Fischer said. As a result of the new law, the revenue sharing agreement between the city and the district was delayed until now. "We're going to be sharing less than what we did before because the threshold went from $1 million to $2 million," he said. The agreement is in place from fiscal year 2023 to fiscal year 2027. Brunswick Schools previously approved the agreement during the board of education meeting on May 16. Also, during Brunswick's Committee of the Whole meeting, Vice Mayor Nick Hanek said he and City Manager Carl DeForest recently met with people from the Medina County Park District regarding putting a designated outdoor refreshment area at Brunswick Lake Park. A DORA is a specific piece of land that is exempt from certain open container rules. He said the first step for the city to create the district is for the city manager to make an application to council, which is anticipated to be done soon. "This is something that's in a lot of cities," Hanek said. "This is something that's going to allow for hopefully some more events, walkability, things in town center and town center businesses. That will be coming to council in the very near future." Contact reporter Madisyn Woodring at (330) 721-4049 or mwoodring@medina-gazette.com.