Mayor’s plan to offer $500 to GM workers to buy homes in Niles

By Jordan Cohen

The mayor hopes to attract new taxpayers to the city.

NILES — Mayor Ralph Infante wants to use taxpayers’ money to attract some General Motors employees to the city.

He hopes to attract home buyers from General Motors employees who are transferred to Lordstown to work the third shift. The offer: Buy or build a home in Niles and get a $500 city grant.

The proposal appears in legislation scheduled for a vote at Wednesday morning’s council meeting.

“There are going to be 1,400 working that third shift, and if we can get from 25 to 50 of them to buy a house in Niles, we’ll be way ahead of the game,” Infante said.

GM is adding a third shift to the Lordstown complex in August, hiring about 1,400 people, many of whom will be transfers from other GM plants.

The mayor said there are three basic requirements for applicants:

UThey must be new Lordstown employees working the third shift.

UThey must have been transferred from outside the area of Niles.

UThey must purchase or build a home within Niles city limits.

The mayor said the city will work with plant representatives to verify all applications.

“We’ve got plenty [of money] to cover it,” Infante said. “In addition, the funds will pay for themselves in the short run because we’ll be getting new taxpayers.”

Infante said the city can attract home buyers because its income tax of 1.5 percent is considerably lower than that of other area municipalities as are its rates for its locally provided electricity and water.

City Law Director Terry Dull said the distributions should be considered grants. He said he determined legality because of their purpose, which is to reduce the number of vacant homes. He was asked whether the ordinance could be considered discriminatory because it applies only to GM Lords-town employees.

“If questions arise should other companies transfer people here, then the mayor can look at the issue at that time,” Dull said.

According to Infante, Niles has at least 30 homes available for purchase and would like to sell as many of those as possible. However, he said the city will approve a grant to those who choose to build a new home rather than purchase an existing one.

Should council approve, the grant program will begin immediately but will terminate June 1, 2009.