Council members split on how to spend what’s left of Cincinnati’s carryover budget in a 6-3 vote Monday in the Budget and Finance Committee.
The roughly $7.3 million is split between a few priorities:
- $3 million for pedestrian safety
- $1.3 million for deferred maintenance on recreation facilities
- $1 million for deferred maintenance on parks facilities ($250,000 for erosion control at Smale Riverfront Park and $750,000 for Martin Luther King Park)
- $1,994,178 for a Catalytic Neighborhood Investment Program
That last category caused the split vote. It’s common for council to approve direct funding for specific projects as part of the carryover budget, which often means lots of private meetings between organizations and council members and hours of public comment from people asking for funds for their project.
This year, city administration wants to have those organizations go through a formal request for proposals, or RFP, process. A five-member panel will evaluate the applications for feasibility and potential impact, and make recommendations to Council for final awards.
Council Member Meeka Owens says it’s about making the funding process as equitable as possible.
“There's no shortage of really great ideas, and so I want to applaud everyone who is working on really amazing projects in our city,” Owens said. “So that's not the question. What makes this an equitable process is exactly that — an RFP process.”
The same basic argument is behind a recent change, led by Owens, to the way council funds outside organizations through leveraged support.
Three council members, led by Vice Mayor Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney, disagreed.
“The RFP process is not a bad idea at all. However, it's just not the right time for it,” Kearney said.
Her plan called for splitting the money among five specific projects:
- $500,000 for Queen Mother’s Market Cooperative in Walnut Hills
- $494,178 for the Imperial Theatre renovation in Mohawk
- $500,000 for Robert O’Neal Multicultural Art Center (ROMAC) in the West End
- $500,000 for the YWCA women’s shelter in Avondale
- $250,000 for West End Sports Bar & Grill in the West End
Kearney says these organizations have been asking Council for funding for over a year, and have followed through on all requests for information so far.
“I think it's really important that if we're going to change the process, that people know that in advance,” she said.
Budget and Finance Chair Greg Landsman says he supports the individual projects but thinks Council is not equipped to make funding decisions this way.
“We have got to get past this moment every year where it is like The Hunger Games and we're picking winners and losers,” he said. “I just think it's gonna be very hard for us to break this cycle, this kind of behavior, until we do it. And we just have to do it.”
The lengthy discussion was a rare example of active negotiation between council members, a process that typically takes place outside of public meetings.
A motion from Landsman that slightly altered the administration’s recommended plan came into the committee with five signatures, meaning it had enough support to pass. But one of the supporters, Jeff Cramerding, ended up voting against it after it was amended during the meeting. Cramerding said in a statement the discussion made it clear the city manager's recommendations were better and had the most support.
Ultimately, the committee passed the administration’s plan with no changes. Voting in favor: Landsman, Reggie Harris, Liz Keating, Mark Jeffreys, Meeka Owens, and Jeff Cramerding. Voting against: Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney, Scotty Johnson, and Victoria Parks. The measure will get a final vote in Council Wednesday.
The total amount left over from FY22 is more than $85 million. About $22 million of that is going into a few reserve accounts and the rest is divided among many priorities like the Ziegler Park expansion and design of a convention center district.
Five million dollars is going to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, although the exact account for that deposit is still in dispute. Council’s Equitable Growth and Housing Committee may settle that debate in a meeting Tuesday at 1 p.m.
