Cincinnati City Council today approved the creation by the city of 15 new tax increment finance (TIF) districts in neighborhoods that have experienced significant disinvestment and poverty.
The districts allow gains in property tax revenue to be funneled into public projects — a necessary tool to incentivize development, the city’s Department of Community and Economic Development says. But critics say the city hasn’t been transparent about how and why the money is spent. Some skeptics of TIF districts have called them “slush funds” and are demanding an independent audit of how money from them is spent.
Not everyone is opposed to TIFs. Some neighborhood groups say they welcome them.
“TIF money gives us the opportunity to bring people to our neighborhood who otherwise would not come here,” former NEST Executive Director Stefanie Sunderland said. NEST is Northside’s community development corporation.
That neighborhood’s community council voted this week for the second time to support a TIF district in that neighborhood, though the council also called for more transparency around TIFs. Other neighborhood groups also support the disrticts, including representatives from Mount Airy and the West End.
Even so, a number of critics spoke before council’s Budget and Finance Committee Monday and full meeting Wednesday, urging council members to delay the creation of the new TIF districts. A small group of protesters Wednesday chanted “Audit the TIFs” as council discussed them. The group walked out after Mayor John Cranley asked them to be removed by police.
“If you can do nothing else and help the residents of Cincinnati, you can at least vote no… until an audit is performed. You don’t build an addition on your house while it is burning,” West Price Hill resident Laura Hamilton told council today. Hamilton pointed out what she says have been inconsistencies in TIF spending and information presented about it.
One of those discrepancies is $750,000 originally listed in city documents as being spent on streetscaping along Glenway Avenue in 2009. But when CityBeat asked for details about that project, the city said the money was actually spent in 2014 on a separate project to acquire property on Glenway. The city says its spreadsheet of projects was out of date and that the rest of the information provided has been double-checked.
You can find a breakdown of each of the city’s 20 existing TIF districts created in 2002 and 2005 here. The districts are good for 30 years.
The vote on the new districts comes just before the expiration of a controversial 1999 agreement between the city and Cincinnati Public Schools around the degree to which the city can offer development tax incentives, including TIFs and property tax abatements. The city says those incentives are vital to encourage development. But CPS and education advocates say they cost the district money.
Council today voted to extend the current agreement for 90 days. The CPS Board, meanwhile, voted today to extend it for 30 days.
The vote also comes just before a triennial revaluation of property by the Hamilton County Auditor. Increased property values could be captured by the new TIF districts.
Council member David Mann introduced a motion approved by council today that directs city administration to post information about the districts, including each district’s fund balance, expenditures, and permissible uses for the money in the funds. Some of that information is available in monthly city financial reports, though those can be difficult to find quickly on the city’s website.
Mann’s motion would also direct city administration to present potential expenditures of TIF funds in a given district before that district’s community council and get a vote on whether the community approves the usage of the funds. Finally, Mann’s motion stipulates that any project involving housing that receives TIF support from the city should include units affordable at 50 percent of the area median income or less unless the district’s community council waives that requirement.
Councilmember Tamaya Dennard voted against the TIF districts except for one in the West End. She says she supports them in theory, but wants an audit.
“It’s not a yes or no, binary issue,” she said. “TIFs can be a good tool. But we have a poor track record when it comes to engagement.”
Council today also approved 16 Community Reinvestment Area tax abatements and five project TIFS associated with specific developments.
Other legislation around tax incentives could come soon, council member Greg Landsman said Wednesday. Landsman wants to tie city incentives to better wages, better inclusion on construction projects and more affordable housing requirements.
“There is a timing issue, and we do need to pass these today,” he said of the 15 new TIFs, “but we’ll get this right and we’ll have to do it together.”
The new districts will be created in the following neighborhoods:
• Camp Washington
• College Hill
• Eastern River
• Mt. Airy
• Mt. Auburn
• North Fairmount
• Northside
• Pleasant Ridge
• Riverside
•Roselawn
• South Cumminsville
• South Fairmount
• Spring Grove Village
• West End
• Westwood Boudinot
This article appears in Dec 11-24, 2019.
