Delaware City Council approves tax exemption for planned Ohio AAA Blue Jackets facility
By Jack Slemenda (Delaware Source)
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DELAWARE — A “pizza slice” shaped piece of undeveloped land at the corner of U.S. Route 42 and Sawmill Parkway just took a big step towards an even bigger project.
Delaware City Council approved the creation of a tax increment financing district (TIF) for the Ohio AAA Blue Jackets’ proposed multi-ice rink facility at their Monday meeting.
“We need to put this in place so that the AAA Ohio Blue Jackets can issue a TIF bond to help pay for the on-site infrastructure,” Delaware Director of Economic Development Nic Langford told council.
The TIF will encompass Phase 1 of the project, which spans 28 acres of the 260-acre master plan, and will feature a $30 million, 150,000 square-foot facility with three to four ice sheets.
Langford said the facility is for youth hockey, not the Columbus Blue Jackets’ NHL team.
“If you’re familiar with the chillers in the area, this is going to be a Class A chiller,” he said.
“We’re still projecting that the Columbus Blue Jackets’ youth squad would practice here, and probably play games here, as well.”
How the TIF works
Langford said the TIF will just capture the new value from the development.
The owners will make service payments instead of property taxes, and a TIF fund will be created and used as debt service for a TIF bond.
“We’re also going to be providing compensation for the career center and the Delaware City School District,” Langford said. “It’s 30 years per parcel, and we’re going to be exempting 100% of it.”
According to Langford’s presentation, officials can only use TIF money for “public improvements that benefit the project site and the surrounding area.”
Those improvements can include:
Road and access: Roadways, intersections, access drives, traffic control, sidewalks and trails
Utilities: Water, sanitary sewer, stormwater, fire-protection and related utility work
Site readiness: Landscaping, streetscape, easements, environmental work and related preparation
Project delivery: Engineering, design, legal, administrative, acquisition and construction costs
“This isn’t creating any general fund obligation,” Langford said. “We aren’t paying any cash towards this; it’s literally just capturing the TIF and using it to help pay for the project.”
The schools’ benefits
For about a year, the city negotiated compensation with Delaware City Schools before school officials approved a compensation agreement in October 2025.
“[Delaware City Schools] will get 10% of the property tax value as an annual payment,” Langford said.
This base payment is equal to the 10% of the real property taxes the schools would have received without the TIF.
“After debt service and advances, if there are any remaining funds from the TIF after the debt service is paid, half of that goes to Delaware City Schools,” Langford said.
“And then the other half is essentially a bond service fund to generate extra coverage ratio in case it’s needed.”
Once the bonds are paid, all remaining service payments will go to the school district for the rest of the TIF’s term, after any amounts required to be shared with the career center are deducted.
Under Ohio law, the city must also make annual payments to the Delaware Area Career Center to compensate it for property tax revenue foregone because of the TIF. Those payments are calculated each year after the project is built and the property’s value is assessed.
Langford also said the school district will receive 25% of the city income taxes generated by the site’s projected 30 employees, after any required distribution to the career center.
In-kind benefits also include: dedicated high school locker room shells, school field-trip skating sessions, public skate nights, a holiday staff and family skate night and one additional large-scale district event per year.
“On top of that, and I’m really hoping it happens, Delaware City Schools has indicated that they would like to potentially start a high school [hockey] team,” Langford said.