Girard, Youngstown near tax deal on V&M project, law director says

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Girard Mayor James Melfi

The Girard official expects an agreement to be worked out within two weeks.

By Jordan Cohen

GIRARD — Law Director Mark Standohar said the city is close to an agreement with Youngstown on sharing tax revenue from the V&M Star Steel property, site of a proposed $970 million expansion that could create 400 jobs.

“We have the framework of a deal in place, and I’m hoping we can close down the final details in two weeks,” Standohar said.

His comments followed a brief special council meeting Wednesday night in which the city was expected to have completed its proposal to Youngstown on splitting tax revenue.

Instead, council only voted to authorize the state to begin preliminary engineering and earth-moving studies on the Brier Hill site where V&M is located.

Standohar said council then moved into executive session, where members would discuss the tax issue along with other litigation concerns.

Youngstown, at the request of V&M, is seeking to annex 192 acres from Girard. Plant ownership has indicated that without annexation, there will be no expansion.

Of the acreage, 120 would be allocated for the expansion and a railroad right of way. The remainder would remain vacant.

The primary issue, however, is a revenue split between Youngstown and Girard from a 2.75 percent corporate-profit tax on V&M and Youngstown’s 2.75 percent income tax. Previous reports indicated the revenues would be shared from taxes paid by new employees at the expansion site and construction workers who will build the proposed facility.

Neither Standohar nor members of council would comment on the specifics under discussion. Thomas Seidler, councilman at-large who heads the economic-development committee, would only say that no agreement is in place.

“There is still no resolution with Youngstown,” Seidler said.

Noticeably absent from the evening’s session was Mayor James Melfi, who has been openly skeptical about Youngstown’s willingness to share tax revenue with Girard after it takes the property. Melfi has called the annexation “a land grab.”

There was no explanation given about Melfi’s absence, and he could not be reached to comment.

As for the state’s site preparation, Seidler said the costs would be covered through federal stimulus funding.