The Cincinnati Southern Railway Board of Trustees will decide in July whether to put a proposed sale on the November ballot. City officials hope to sell the CSR to Norfolk Southern for $1.62 billion and put the revenue into an investment account.
The sale needs approval from Cincinnati voters to go through. The board has tentatively scheduled a special meeting for July 11 to decide on whether to move forward with the November election or wait until next year.
"If we're going to decide to go in November, we'll make that decision that week," said Board President Paul Muething at a meeting Tuesday. "If not, it'll be sometime after the first of the year."
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Once the board sets an election date, Cincinnati City Council must approve the ballot language and send it to the Hamilton County Board of Elections. This step is "ministerial," meaning council has no discretion over whether to approve the ballot language or not.
Council's step in the process needs to be done at least 90 days before the election. Because of the summer council calendar, Council would need to approve the language at its meeting Aug. 2 in order to appear on the November ballot.
State lawmakers limited the election options to this November, or the primary or general election next year.
The City Solicitor's Office gave the CSR Board a memo outlining how board members can and cannot be involved in the eventual campaign for the ballot initiative.
The memo references the city charter, which prohibits spending public money for political activity.
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"As a board of the city, the Board is subject to the [charter] language," the memo says. "However, as private citizens, the members of the Board may express their opinions in support of the ballot initiative for the proposed sale, provided that no CSR resources are used to do so."
A table of examples outlines what is and is not permissible:
Permissible | Not Permissible |
Providing factual information related to the sale, including using CSR resources to do so. | Using CSR funds to support the ballot initiative, such as placing an ad. |
Personally advocating in favor of the sale outside of a CSR Board meeting. | Using a CSR Board meeting to advocate for the passage of the ballot initiative. |
Donating your personal funds in support of the ballot initiative. | Receiving funds from Norfolk Southern and the Board using them to fund support of the ballot initiative. |
Taking Board action as required by law, such as approving the sale to be submitted to the electorate. | City Council passing a resolution in support of the ballot initiative. |
Asking factual questions about the ballot initiative at a CSR Board meeting. | Using CSR resources to pay a consultant to draft a message of support in favor of the ballot initiative. |
The CSR Board also approved an agreement with Davenport Public Finance to help find an investment advisor for the proceeds of the sale, if voters approve it. The agreement is for $40,000 for Davenport to facilitate a request for proposals, analyze the responses, and help select a final partner.
"If we do go forward in November, I think we want to get moving on this," said Board Member Amy Murray.
"If we don't go forward in November, March is right around the corner," said Board Member Mark Mallory.
Draft of ballot language
The language approved by state lawmakers includes an outline of ballot language for the sale.
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The CSR Board will fill in the blanks when they approve the language for the ballot, either for November or one of next year's elections.
"Shall the ________ (name of railway board of trustees) be authorized to sell _______ (name and description of railway or portion of railway being sold) to an entity, the ultimate parent company of which is ________ (name of ultimate parent company) for a purchase price of ______ (amount proposed for the sale), to be paid in ____ (number of installments) installments during the years _____ (years in which an installment will be paid), with the moneys received to be deposited into a trust fund operated by _______ (railway board of trustees), with _______ (municipal corporation) as the sole beneficiary, the moneys to be annually disbursed to the municipal corporation in an amount no less than _____ (dollar amount) per year, for the purpose of the rehabilitation, modernization, or replacement of existing streets, bridges, municipal buildings, parks and green spaces, site improvements, recreation facilities, improvements for parking purposes, and any other public facilities owned by _____ (municipal corporation), and to pay for the costs of administering the trust fund?”
