Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval is requesting an administrative review of the recent Futures Commission report.
Pureval formed the group a year and a half ago, asking Procter & Gamble CEO Jon Moeller to lead a deep dive into city finances and suggest changes for fiscal stability. The report, released earlier this month, includes a recommended income tax increase, a new waste collection fee, and dozens of other suggestions.
Pureval says the recommendations are legally and logistically complex.
"But I am grateful that the Futures Commission has provided us with the opportunity to have these difficult conversations about how we can best move forward, and what kind of city we want to be, and what kind of investments we need to make right now to achieve that city in the future," Pureval said.
Pureval is requesting the report via a motion, which City Council will consider and vote on next week. The motion says the administrative report should focus on a few key priorities:
- Identify actions in progress or already accomplished that align with the goals of the recommendations.
- Determine feasibility of all recommendations not already complete.
- Identify which recommendations would require voter approval through a charter amendment, and outline the potential timelines.
"The guiding principle of this Commission's report, from my perspective, is that equitable growth has to be a core focus for moving the city forward on all of our priorities. And I completely and wholeheartedly agree with that," Pureval said.
The motion requests the report be complete within 60 days. It also asks for a separate report, within 90 days, regarding one specific recommendation: that Greater Cincinnati Water Works become a regional system.
This recommendation is tied to one of the most significant hurdles in city finances: the employee retirement system, which does not have enough money to support all the current employees who will eventually retire.
The Futures Commission recommends boosting the retirement fund enough to transfer all city employees to the state pension system, using a one-time payment from regionalizing GCWW.
Pureval's motion asks that the administrative report include:
- An outline of the work of previous administrations around a Regional Water Authority, feasibility, and implementation risk.
- An outline of the pension fund's health and future projections, including a comparison to comparable peer cities.
The motion will be up for a vote at City Council's Equitable Growth and Housing Committee on Tuesday afternoon; if passed, it will be up for a final vote of full Council the following day.
