In late June, Cincinnati City Council approved a round of development incentives for several projects. Those included a conversion of the PNC Tower from office to residential and retail, and a mixed-use apartment building along the river called Artistry. Some of the tax incentive deals are for developments that include a certain percentage of units of affordable housing; others do not.
During a budget and committee meeting to discuss the incentive, Council Member Tamaya Dennard said she would not vote for incentives on projects that do not include affordable housing. In a subsequent tweet she wrote, "we cannot keep offering subsidies to developers and builders paid for by people of all incomes that don’t serve people of all incomes."
Yesterday was a tough day at City Hall. As a council, we approved quite a few deals that offered ZERO units of affordable housing but asked for 100% tax abatements. Tax abatements mean that someone doesn’t pay taxes for a certain period of time.
— Tamaya Dennard (@tamayaforcincy) June 25, 2019
Joining Cincinnati Edition to discuss affordable housing in our region and development incentives are Cincinnati City Council Member Tamaya Dennard; Council Member David Mann; and Northern Kentucky Community Action Commission Executive Director Catrena Bowman-Thomas.
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