INDEPENDENCE, Ky. — The Kenton County Fiscal Court has tabbed the City of Independence as the first recipient of its newly formed Community Development Fund.
The Community Development Fund provides financial support to cities across Kenton County for redevelopment projects that have the potential to impact local businesses and generate job growth. Kenton County guidelines dictate that eligible projects should be focused on property development–such as acquisition, renovation, site preparation–or right-of-way improvements.
The City of Independence will receive $900,000 from the fund and is expected to use $100,000 of its own money as part of a matching contribution. Independence has 36 months to utilize the financial resources, with any unused funds returned to the county. The fund is financed by a $5 million budgetary allocation from the Kentucky General Assembly.
Proposals for fund money must be submitted by a city’s mayor in consultation with its legislative body. The city is required to prove it can match 10% of any funding awarded.
If certain projects do not fall under the county’s eligibility criteria, they will be vetted by the Planning and Development Services of Kenton County’s Community Development Department for potential adjustments.
Independence Mayor Chris Reinersmann touted the funds as a way for the city to revitalize its older commercial districts. Since Independence has experienced a boom in population growth, increasing from 14,982 people at the turn of the century to 28,676 in 2020, according to US Census Data.
“We’ve got a couple of areas in town we really want to focus on redevelopment,” Reniersmann told the fiscal court during a March 11 meeting where the agreement was approved. As of now, no specific projects have been reported.
During the meeting, the fiscal court inked a partnership with The Catalytic Fund — a private sector not-for-profit organization that provides non-traditional financing and property development advisory services in Northern Kentucky.
Kenton County Administration Joe Shriver said the county wanted to establish the right guidelines to distribute the funds properly.
“The natural next step was to ask Jeanne (The Catalytic Fund CEO Jeanne Schroer) if she would be willing to help us and maybe even partner with us to really try and maximize the impact of these dollars,” he said.
The Catalytic Fund has been involved with over 100 redevelopment projects throughout Northern Kentucky, with a focus on revitalizing properties in Northern Kentucky’s river cities, including Ludlow, Covington, Dayton, Bellevue and Newport. Since its 2013 inception, The Catalytic Fund has invested over $450 million throughout the region, leading to the creation of the preservation of 91 historic buildings and the creation of 1,061 new residential units.
Some of the fund’s most notable projects include Hotel Covington, the Kent Lofts in Bellevue, Skypoint in Newport, and the Life Learning Center in Covington among others.
As part of the partnership agreement, the organization will develop selection criteria for project proposals, create a uniform application process, develop quarterly status reports and work alongside the county on proposal evaluations and monetary allocation.
“The idea behind these funds is redevelopment of sites that need help in the cities,” Judge/Executive Kris Knochelmann said during the meeting. “We’ve got great ideas and sometimes you need financial support behind it.”
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