Thursday, April 10 2014
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It’s Now or Never for $59 Million in Aid for Aging School System
$59 million in state funding is at stake when Fairfield and Middletown voters go to the polls May 6 to vote to decide if the districts should upgrade their aging school buildings. If voters reject the tax increase as they did in November, the state funding will be pulled and appropriated to another school district. If the Fairfield levy were approved, annual taxes on a $100,000 home would increase by $91. The Middletown levy, if passed, would increase annual property taxes by $149 for a $100,000 home.
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Ohio Government Receives Awful Marks for Transparency
Ohio received a “D-” in its efforts to provide an open and transparent government to its citizens, according to national consumer group designed to protect American citizens from powerful interest groups. The ranking puts Ohio in the bottom five in the nation at providing its citizenry with accessible information such as “customizable search options including bid award recipients, keywords, agency and bulk download searches,” according to City Beat. Despite Ohio’s poor ranking, Cincinnati fares quite well in its efforts to be transparent and received a “B+” in a study that examined the nation’s 30 largest cities.
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GE to Build New Services Center in Cincinnati
JobsOhio has announced that multinational conglomerate GE has plans to build one of five global shared services centers in Cincinnati. The decision is expected to bring 1400 jobs to the region and is an effort by the company to standardize shared functions between its operations such as finance and IT. While they're still deciding whether to locate the new facility in Oakley or downtown at the Banks, the project should be completed by 2017.
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Central Parkway Cycle Track To Restrict Parking, Could Hurt Businesses
Now that the streetcar debate has been settled and it moving forward regardless of the naysayer arguments, business leaders investing in city's urban core now have a new gripe with city planners. This time, it involves the city's plan to install a cycle track along Central Parkway and the associated parking restrictions that come with it. Under the proposal, parking would be restricted along the route during rush hour on adjacent sides of the street based on the time of day. Opponents of the plan think alternate solutions should be considered as restricting parking could hurt business.
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Cincinnati Democrats Blame Kasich for Cuts
Cincinnati Democratic leaders including Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld are pointing their fingers at Gov. John Kasich and his across-the-board income tax cuts as a cause for the city’s decline in public services. Cincinnati has received 50 percent decrease in local government funding during the last two years. In addition to the $12 million cut form the local government fund, Gov. Kasich also repealed the estate tax that played a large part in funding local government. A report from Policy Matters, a non-profit policy research organization, found that state aid to local communities has decreased $1.1 billion since the 2011-12 fiscal year.
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