Written Testimony — Rick Platt on H.B. 147 (Ohio House Development Committee, February 25, 2026)

Summary

This is the written testimony of Rick Platt to the Ohio House Development Committee, concerning opponent testimony on H.B. 147, dated Wednesday, February 25, 2026. The testimony says port authorities are equipped to advance public-private partnerships and states that H.B. 147 could harm the continued success of the Heath-Newark-Licking County Port Authority. It says the bill would reduce negotiating power in the financing aspect of transactions. It also says that since its inception more than $15 million has been redirected to public infrastructure investments on the projects the Port Authority has financed.

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                    Written Testimony of Rick Platt to the
                   Ohio House Development Committee
                  concerning opponent testimony H.B. 147
                      Wednesday, February 25, 2026
Port authorities are uniquely equipped to serve as vehicles to advance public-private
partnerships which yield positive results favoring job creation in Ohio. Though there’s not much
alike among the 60+ ports in Ohio, the ability to act as a nimble, business-friendly government is
common amongst us all.

In the last 25 years, the Heath-Newark-Licking County Port Authority has undertaken over $1.2
billion financing-related projects creating jobs, primarily in manufacturing. We’ve turned a
former Air Force Base into a development anchor with more jobs than existed when it closed as
a base. We’ve either built or incentivized the building of 14 speculative industrial buildings in
the last 14 years. Our focus on incentivizing manufacturing job creating projects has seen jobs
on our development property grow 150% in the last 10 years.

H.B. 147 could harm our continued success. For one, it would zap our negotiation power in the
financing aspect of the transactions we undertake. It would dictate the terms rather than allow
the art of the deal.

For example, our Port Authority has made it a best practice to negotiate a public benefit
component of the transactions. Through negotiations, we ensure that not all of the sales tax
savings automatically accrue to the developer. In fact, since its inception, more than $15 million
has been redirected to public infrastructure investments on the projects we’ve financed.

We often are asked how we can help smaller companies, not just large ones. H.B. 147 would
only further tilt the transactions toward bigger deals.

It’s not hard to imagine a scenario, should H.B. 147 become law, where a million dollar condo is
being exempted from taxes and being built next to an existing housing development where mom
and pop are paying sales taxes for new siding on their house or a new roof.

With back-and-forth of negotiations, we have been able to offset the differences where benefits
don’t work for smaller transactions. A multi-family development we are negotiating right now
would ensure rents that fit the housing needs for our workforce and also make payments in lieu
of taxes which will be directed to future, smaller transactions for workforce housing.

H.B. 147 would dictate terms in these transactions and, thus, tends to remove local port
authority negotiating power.

There’s a key principle at play—government is best which is closest to the people. H.B. 147
does not embrace that principle. Port authorities know their local development standards and
goals for local development.

Nothing can replace that local development knowledge and expertise. Local port authorities
know where exemptions make sense and, just as importantly, where they don’t.


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