Thursday, May 13, 1999
Warren Co. to kill firms' tax breaks
Companies didn't meet terms
BY SAUNDRA AMRHEIN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
LEBANON — Warren County officials plan to cancel two tax abatements of businesses that are not living up to their ends of the bargain.
An agreement with First Image Management Co., begun in 1995, released it from paying half the taxes on $600,000 worth of equipment and other personal property for five years, said Karen Garrett, county director of economic development. In return, the company was supposed to employ 75 people.
But only 40 people hold jobs at the two companies formed since First Image was bought out in August, Ms. Garrett told county commissioners Tuesday.
AccuDocs LLC, a Franklin printing and electronic billing company, and Anacomp, a Franklin microfiche producer, each employ 20 people.
With only one year left in the agreement, commissioners told Ms. Garrett to cancel it. Commissioners must later vote on a resolution to dissolve the agreement.
“We're setting a bad precedent if we don't do anything,” said Commissioner Larry Crisenbery.
The other tax deal nixed was with Kings Mills Technical Center in Hamilton Township.
The firm was granted 100 percent tax abatement on its buildings for 12 years starting in 1988, but now it has only warehouse space in what was supposed to be an office complex.
Commissioners plan to for mally kill the deal with a resolution.
Ms. Garrett said she did not know the dollar amount of the Kings Mills tax breaks. No property owner could be reached for comment.
The First Image abatement did not amount to much, Ms. Garrett said. During the first year of the agreement, the county forgave less than $5,000 in taxes. Each year, that amount fell with the property value.
Cobie Schwartz, spokeswoman for AccuDocs LLC at its headquarters in Birmingham, Ala., said the action comes as no surprise.
“We all knew this was not going to continue,” she said.
She said her company has been upfront with the county about the number of its employees since buying out part of First Image in August and splitting the equipment with Anacomp. AccuDocs never pretended to be able to hire more people, she said.
“We didn't make that original promise,” she said.
Ms. Garrett said that since 1988, only two other tax-abatement agreements have been revoked — one for going out of business and the other for reneging on the deal.
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