Middletown’s Economic Development Director Jennifer Ekey said the error was identified this year during the annual Butler County Tax Incentive Review Council’s review of all tax abatements to ensure each are being followed and are in compliance.
When the oversight was found by city officials, they contacted the owners, Traci and Mark Barnett, and explained the duration of the agreement was incorrect.
Traci Barnett said she requested 15 years when she applied for the abatement, not knowing there was a 12-year limitation.
The amended CRA agreement with the Barnetts is for a 100 percent tax abatement that expires on Dec. 31, 2028 and is compliant with state law.
“We’re very grateful to have received the abatement,” she said.
The Barnetts purchased the Sorg Mansion in 2013, and ever since, the couple who previously lived in Baltimore, has dedicated their lives to restoring the three-story, 12-bedroom, eight-bathroom brick-and-stone Romanesque castle that features 12-foot ceilings and fireplaces in every bedroom.
Traci Barnett, executive director of the Middletown Community Foundation, said they have replaced the slate roof, repaired the box gutters and internal gutters, restored the exterior stones to their original colors, repaired the detailed woodwork, painted walls, replaced wallpaper and purchased “historic lighting” for some of the rooms.
MORE: Sorg Mansion receives tax credits
The couple lives on the second floor, and while the restoration is ongoing, Barnett said the mansion’s foyer and drawing room on the first floor were open during the home tour last weekend.
Barnett said the line to see the mansion “went around the house and went smoothly.”
“There were many people who said ‘how grateful we are to you and your husband for doing this’ and they all see it as their house in the community,’” she said. “That really re-energized us.”
The mansion has received $212,500 in tax credits from the Ohio Development Services Agency, and the total project to renovate the South Main Street property is estimated at nearly $1.32 million.
Prior to the purchase by the Barnetts, the mansion was home to dance and photo studios, a construction company and low-income apartments over the years.
Barnett said the project is coming along and that they are in year four of the five-year renovation project that will become a bed and breakfast and event venue.
“We do have certain thresholds we want to get to in 2019,” she said. “We’re a little behind but we’re starting to catch-up now. We hope to be close to being ready by the end of 2019.”
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