An agreement to discourage job poaching among central Ohio communities would benefit Worthington and the entire region, according to city manager Matt Greeson.

Worthington was one of 10 communities to sign a tentative agreement last month designed to curtail the practice of using tax incentives to lure a company from one municipality to another.

The agreement would encourage the communities not to entice companies of any size to move within the region by offering tax breaks.

If one of the communities does poach jobs from a neighboring community — and the company’s payroll is more than $10 million — the community would have to share 50 percent of the increased tax receipts for five years with the community from which the company moved.

How the agreement would be enforced is one of several details still to be addressed, Greeson said. The timetable calls for the details to be completed by March, so that the agreement can be presented for approval to each city council in May.

Columbus, Dublin, Gahanna, Grandview Heights, Grove City, Hilliard, New Albany, Upper Arlington, Westerville and Worthington signed the letter of intent (See related story).

For several years, those communities have been enticing businesses from each other with the offer of tax breaks. Some of the larger businesses to be lured are BMW, which moved from Dublin to Hilliard to take advantage of $12-million in tax breaks, and Bob Evans, which is moving from Columbus to New Albany.

In Worthington, Mettler Toledo moved its headquarters to Polaris to take advantage of tax incentives.

Asked how Worthington can attract businesses to areas such as the Wilson Bridge Corridor and to the UMCH property, Greeson said it would have to rely on more traditional attractions such as price, location, and product.

With other communities doing the same, the playing field would be leveled and the communities could focus on attracting businesses from outside the region, he said.

“We are looking at how can we work together to build the regional economy rather than how to relocate jobs across jurisdictional lines,” Greeson said.

Worthington has few sites that could accommodate a company with a $10-million payroll, he added.

In its current form, the agreement includes no disincentive for luring a smaller company with a tax break. The communities would be asked only to state their intent to not do so, or to communicate among themselves if they plan to not live up to the stated intent.

“There may be instances where it is warranted,” Greeson said.

The agreement may eventually be expanded to include disincentives for poaching even small companies, he said. Because the agreement is so complicated, it was decided to begin the disincentive program with larger companies.

Besides working together to attract new businesses to the region, the 10 communities are also looking at ways to save money by working together to provide basic services.

Recycling, vehicle fleets, courts, purchasing, technology, and health insurance are possible areas for sharing services.

Worthington is considering combining its police and fire dispatching services with one or more communities. The option will be studied in 2012.

“We’re going to evaluate the feasibility of it,” Greeson said.