CINCINNATI — A commission formed to study Cincinnati's budget has suggested raising the city's income taxes to fill budget shortfalls and combat decline.
The Cincinnati Futures Commission spoke to hundreds of residents and dozens of stakeholders over the span of 15 months, while analyzing the city's spending and needs. As a result, the commission issued a 77-page report detailing spending recommendations, raising taxes and other tactics to help Cincinnati balance its budget while angling the city toward a future of growth.
The deficit currently projected in the city's operating budget sits at around $439 million.
According to a press release, the 34-member commission spoke with over 800 people across multiple focus groups, surveys and stakeholder meetings, with over 70 organizations also providing input.
In all, the report highlights three key goals it believes the city needs to achieve:
- Increasing Cincinnati's population
- Growing jobs in Cincinnati
- Increasing wages and shrinking wage disparities among people living in Cincinnati
The report also compared Cincinnati's policies and circumstances with nearby cities and found Cincinnati ranked at or near the bottom on significant areas, like population, job growth and household income levels.
According to the commission's report, when compared with 11 peer cities on median household income, Cincinnati ranks 10; the city is also last among peer cities in the ratio of mean income to the top 20% versus the bottom 20% of households, the report says.
The city also ranks last in the percent of housing units where costs for residents are 30% of their household income.
Cincinnati also ranks last among its peers in density, with large amounts of underutilized land noted in the report.
As a result, the commission recommended to Mayor Aftab Pureval and city leaders that several changes, including increasing income taxes for residents, be made.
Raising earnings taxes, increasing fees
The commission's first recommendation to help grow jobs in Cincinnati involves the creation of a strategic site redevelopment fund to attract high-paying jobs in targeted industries.
The commission, comprised of Cincinnati business leaders, also recommends the city increase investments in neighborhood development and housing for all income levels, and work to grow the number of successful minority-owned business in Cincinnati.
Here's how the commission recommends the city accomplish that:
- A 10-year earnings tax increase of 0.1%
- Selling or leasing several city-owned real estate to generate funds for investments
- Create an Office of Strategic Growth within the City Manager's office to handle economic initiatives
The commission also recommends changes be made to provide additional funding to fire and police departments through a .05% income tax increase.
In contrast, the commission recommends creating shared services between the parks and recreational departments and conduct an external operations review of the police and fire departments to determine cost saving opportunities.
In all, the earnings taxes proposed by the commission would bring the city's earnings tax rate to 1.95%, which the commission said is still a "competitive advantage" compared to peer cities. The increase, the commission estimated, would bring in an additional $33 million for the city each year.
The commission also recommended the city implement a fee for trash pickup and add more parking meters throughout the city.
Selling or leasing city-owned property deemed underutilized
Another way the commission recommends bringing in more funds for the city is by selling or leasing city-owned assets.
"The Futures Commission recommends that the City take stock of all its assets and divest of the assets that do not support the City’s focus on core services or could be repositioned to support growth," reads the report.
According to the report, the city owns and operates six golf courses, including three that sit outside of city limits; the commission determined that selling those would net the city between $6.5 million and $27.3 million.
In addition, the commission recommends the city lease out Lunken Airport to CVG to leverage additional funds.
The city of Cincinnati also owns several parcels of land that could be utilized better — like the Cincinnati Health Department headquarters on Burnet Avenue which, according to the commission, "sits squarely in the heart of Uptown along a prominent intersection across from the growing University of Cincinnati campus." The building itself has already been flagged by the city as needing repair or replacement, something the commission suggested makes it a prime candidate for re-evaluating the value of its current location.
The commission also identified a city-owned parcel on Shadybrook Drive in Roselawn that could be used for new affordable housing.
In all, if the recommendations of the commission are taken up by city leaders, the final say on most of these policies will have to come from the voters.
The commission estimated if all its recommendations are put into policy, the city could add more than 25,000 new residents, attract nearly 45,000 more jobs, increase the income levels for residents by over $20,000 and realize $15 billion in total economic impact by 2033.
Pureval issued a statement in response to the report:
The Futures Commission was tasked with an enormous responsibility, and I’m grateful that they have approached it with an open mind and a deep understanding of Cincinnati’s challenges and opportunities.
There is a reason I asked Jon Moeller and the members of the commission to take on this work: we are at a crossroads as a City. We have momentum, incredible strengths, and a cohesive community of business, labor, and civic leaders at the table ready to pitch in. But given the critical challenges we face – like public safety, budgetary challenges, economic growth, housing, and the environment – ensuring our long-term vibrancy requires making complex and difficult decisions in the short-term.
While the report makes clear that this is a holistic set of recommendations, many of the individual items will require vetting, public engagement, and an eye toward our vision of equitable growth. This is going to take time, but I am confident that in coordination with City Manager Long and the incredibly talented folks in our Administration, we will lead an intentional process that keeps City employees, and residents throughout our communities, in the conversation.
Watch Live:
