By Steve Kemme
The Cincinnati Enquirer

HAMILTON - The developer of Market Square, a planned retail-office complex in West Chester Township that will feature a Wal-Mart Supercenter, is seeking a tax incentive package from Butler County.

Daniel Neyer, president of Neyer Properties, which will build Market Square on 75 acres on the northwest corner of Interstate 75 and Cincinnati-Dayton Road, discussed his project Thursday with county commissioners.

Tax increment financing, or TIF, is a development tool that uses property taxes generated by a development to help pay for infrastructure improvements.

The agreement, which is still under negotiation, must be approved by the commissioners.

The Wal-Mart Supercenter is expected to be completed in 2005. The store, expected to employ 500 and produce $100 million a year in sales, would replace the Wal-Mart store on Tylersville Road.

Tim Williams, county finance director, said the TIF package would entail almost no financial risk for the county. The agreement has safeguards that will ensure the county would not be damaged financially if the development stalls, Williams said.

The new Wal-Mart will generate about $600,000 a year in sales tax revenue and other nonproperty-tax revenue for Butler County, Neyer said.

The agreement will come before commissioners for approval in about two months.

E-mail skemme@enquirer.com