By MELISSA DILLEY

ThisWeek Community News Wednesday June 19, 2013 1:10 PM

Liberty Township and Powell city officials came together in a special meeting Friday, June 14, to discuss the creation of a Joint Economic Development Zone that would collect an estimated $1.3 million in income taxes each year.

In partnership with the city of Bexley, establishing a JEDZ would allow Powell and Liberty Township to collect funds that originate as income taxes at Bexley's rate of 2.5 percent until 2043. The income taxes would be collected from workers whose companies fall within the zone's boundaries, which include Liberty Township-owned properties, Olentangy schools located in Liberty Township, the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, Zoombezi Bay, Safari Golf Course, Del-Co Water, Delaware County Sanitary and Columbus State Community College's Delaware branch.

If approved by the city and the township, the JEDZ contract will appear before city and township voters as an issue on the Nov. 5 ballot.

"This JEDZ will promote a spirit of cooperation between the city and the township that has been lacking in the past," said township Trustee Curt Sybert. "This is an absolute no-brainer for Liberty Township, the city of Powell and even our partners in the city of Bexley."

JEDZ districts were created to help cash-strapped townships that aren't legally authorized to collect income taxes. As part of the partnership, Bexley would act as the collecting agent and receive 3 percent of the JEDZ gross revenue shares to cover its collection costs.

Research conducted by Powell officials shows the parcels in the proposed JEDZ have an estimated annual payroll of $52 million. If the 2.5 percent income tax is applied, that would add an estimated $1.3 million to the JEDZ fund. Of those earnings, 85.8 percent would be allocated to Powell and 14.2 percent to Bexley. A separate contract would split Powell's share, allocating half of it to Liberty Township.

The contract also calls for 10 percent of the gross JEDZ revenues to be funneled into projects within the JEDZ territory.

A JEDZ board funded by 2 percent of the divided revenue would consist of nine representatives -- three each from Bexley, Powell and Liberty Township -- and advise on how the funds should be spent. Sybert said joint projects resulting from the JEDZ could include bike paths and park equipment.

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Liberty Township, Powell join Bexley in pact to share taxes