Cincinnati City Council is set to approve a job creation tax credit agreement this week, the fourth such agreement so far this year.
Council member Jeff Cramerding is chair of the Budget and Finance Committee. He says tax credits like this are an important incentive.
"We're foregoing a portion of our earnings tax for a few years, but in doing that, we are getting jobs to transfer to the city of Cincinnati," Cramerding told WVXU. "In the long term, there will be economic growth, more jobs and more earnings tax to spend on basic city services and whatever the city sees fit."
The is with Waites Sensor Technologies, Inc., which previously operated from a headquarters and other locations in Covington.
The company is consolidating all locations in a facility in Queensgate, and already has created or relocated 53 full-time jobs with a total payroll of about $5 million. After completing the move, the company has agreed to create an additional 48 full-time jobs over the next three years, to reach a total of 101 jobs with payroll of about $9.3 million.
The city is offering a 40% earnings tax credit on the new jobs for seven years, with the requirement that Waites Sensor Technologies retains the jobs for at least three years after the incentive period ends. City officials say the agreement will generate about $1.4 million in revenue for the city by the end of the agreement period, while the company will save an estimated $214,431 total.
Cramerding says it's important to consider where the jobs are coming from.
"If we can meet their need in the city of Cincinnati and get earnings tax off those companies, that's great, but ultimately we want to grow as a region," Cramerding said. "So it's even more important that we're getting jobs from outside this region and convincing them to attract and invest in southwest Ohio and our neighboring communities."
To do that, Cramerding says the city needs to improve quality of life and consider amenities that will attract young talent.
"That's where a lot of this Council's focus has been, is really trying to create a dynamic city, which is somewhat different than it's been in the past, where the focus was on just on moving companies here," he said.
Council has approved three other job creation tax credit agreements so far in 2025:
- for 120 jobs in Roselawn, relocating from the Village of St. Bernard
- . for 50 new jobs Downtown
- for 60 new jobs in Spring Grove Village
The four job creation tax credit agreements so far this year outpaces the past few years significantly. Although Council approved five such agreements in 2021, there were only one each in 2022 and 2023, and none in 2024, according to Council's .
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