Sharon Coolidge - Earning Tax Increase / Property Taxes

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
I'm in the high OVERNIGHTLA sixty four with clear skies

(00:02):
eighty eight with sunny skies tomorrow, down to sixty four
every night along with the chance of showers and storms
partly sunny Friday, chances of showers and storms at high
eighty nine Right now sixty six. Time for Chuck Ingram
of the traffic updations.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
From the UCF Traffic Center. Nearly sixty percent of Americans
waiting on an organ transplanterer from multicultural communities give the
Gift of life. Sign up today to be an organ donor.
Heavy traffic on the highways now, including northbound seventy five
over a fifteen minute delay between Florence and downtown in
Bend seventy four backs above Montana East two seventy five

(00:34):
heavy after you got pants Coal Raen to Hamiltonay Avenue
and again mostel at of forty two. Chuck Ingram on
fifty five KRC the talk station.

Speaker 1 (00:45):
It's seven forty here fifty five KRC DE Talk station.
Brian Town is always happy to welcome to the FTY
five CARC Morning Show. You find her writing and reporting
in The Cincinni Inquiry, which you can find at Cincinnati
dot com. I got my online subscription there and I
check it out every single day. Welcome back, Sharon Coolidge.
It's all. It is a pleasure to have you on
the program.

Speaker 3 (01:02):
Good morning.

Speaker 1 (01:04):
I'm actually looking more forward to topic too, because I
just find it so comical about the six hundred million
dollars fund to help residents of the city with their
property taxes. We'll get to that, but let's start with
what happened with Mercy Health and this this Bond Hill facility.
They got a tax incentive package back in twenty fourteen

(01:27):
the Bonds Accors Mercy Health System did to go into
this Bond Hill building. Was supposed to boost the neighborhood
high paying jobs. Of course, earnings taxes is where sixty
four percent of the city's budget comes from. So all
that sounds great, but then they didn't end up using it.
So the city is now saying, hey, we gave you
this incentive package, you owe us seven million dollars because

(01:50):
you didn't make good on your obligations. My first question
was what happened to the site and why didn't it
work out?

Speaker 3 (01:58):
We know, not go into it building. It wasn't some
building that was sitting there. It was taking the old
like movie theater site blighted. You know what are we
going to do with this and building this beautiful news
structure and then filling it with jobs. Right, It sounded
like a dream absolutely, And you know what, honestly, I

(02:21):
have to say it was working all the way up
until COVID. It was growing that it was a bustling place.
But once COVID hit, the world changed. And they're saying it,
and they set it in twenty twenty one in a
letter to former Mayor John Cranley, We're going to stay remote.

(02:41):
It's best for our company. That's what we're doing. The
city didn't really, I don't know, pay that much attention
back in twenty twenty one, but they said it definitively
in a letter, We're going to work remote now and
that's what they did. Well, they're remote.

Speaker 1 (02:55):
Well that was I mean, Sharon, back then, that was
in everybody's best interest because if you're working from home,
you're not spreading the evil COVID around, So there's no
way you could push back on something like that when
really that was kind of what was being asked of
the public generally speaking, across the board in any given industry, no,
one hundred percent.

Speaker 3 (03:14):
I mean the world has changed, and I think the
city's really trying to grapple with that.

Speaker 2 (03:17):
Now.

Speaker 3 (03:19):
I think we're seeing this in more and more places.
I mean, the Ge building is not living up to
its promise, and then we see in bond Hill the
same thing, these two big new buildings, and then you're
going to redo the SAX building and that sounds great.
Pay Courts is going to be a main tenant there.

Speaker 2 (03:39):
They're remote.

Speaker 3 (03:40):
Nobody's even pretending the pay courts filled with the bunch
of jobs that are paying earning taxes. They're I mean,
they're like, this is a meeting space and it is.
They're being upfront with what this plan looks like. But
it's not some company coming in with all these shops
that pay earning tax.

Speaker 1 (03:58):
Well, I know what you do to recover they in
order to recover that ready, the earnings taxes that you're
not getting from the likes of pay Corps and Mercy Health,
just raise the earnings tax on everybody else to make
up for the loss. Have to have.

Speaker 3 (04:13):
Products, not your idea. That's the futures commissioned idea. That's
they're not trying to take credit for that well, so
you know, we're not happy that this year. This was
a very big conversation behind the scenes, and I was
prepped and ready as if, really, what is this going
to look like? What is this vote going to look like?
And in the end they felt like they didn't have

(04:34):
enough time to get it done. I mean, I'm just
going to say it. They would have really looked like hypocrites.
They were like the budget process was too fast, but
then they were like, oh, well, maybe we'll do an
earnings tax. You're like, you're seconds from having to vote
on this, Like, why an't you going to talk about
it and tell the public about it? There just was

(04:55):
not enough time This year. They're owning it though, and
I don't know if it has enough support from COW
So I think there's like a picture like a sigh
of relief. We don't have to say how we feel
about this right now, but this is definitely going to
be a conversation. I think next year.

Speaker 1 (05:11):
I would say, do you see this evolving into litigation?
Because I'm guessing Mercy Health has said no, I mean,
this was out of our hands, and person.

Speaker 3 (05:22):
Health actually said yes once we really started writing about it.
Mercy Health came out and said definitively that they were
going to pay it. Oh, which is really saying something
because ge has like this huge settlement package that was
kind of cut behind the scenes and I think was
a forty three million, but it was like a lot
of things that had value attached to it. Nobody wrote

(05:43):
that kind of check to the city. It was like, Oh,
we're donating an old engine to Cincinnati State so they
can study and everything. I don't hate that, okay, but
it's a value to ten million dollars. We're going to
do these volunteer hours, and it's you know, value, it's
such and such. Like. The only real hard cash seemed
to come out of that was two hundred and fifty

(06:04):
thousand dollars for the port to do a study about
what should happen next with like the big parcel of
land next to pay Horse Stadium. So that really wasn't
a cash, but it does seem like and we're going
to find out on Thursday. There's a big meeting between
Mercy and you know, the Development Department and the city
manager and what's going to come out of that. Now

(06:27):
Mercy said they're going to pay it, but I don't
say anything's a don unentail till it's actually.

Speaker 1 (06:32):
A done yell well, and in the final analysis pay
it or not, maybe they see that they're obligated to
do it. That's fine, settle it like ge did. Whatever
that happens. Those jobs are not going to be in
the city of Cincinnati, basically, that's they're not going to
be there.

Speaker 3 (06:46):
No, they're not. And that is like, is it really
the changing? That's how much it's changing that we can't
I mean, Emver was like, oh, Cincinnati is an amazing
like we're on the upswing and everything's great, and I
do believe that. But then where there's jobs don't want
to come here. Some people will still work in person,

(07:07):
and it's like, really, what does that look like? And
the people you're electing next year is a big electioneer,
the mayor and city council. And I don't know what
those races look like because I don't have like a
tenth person who said they're running or someone who's running
against the mayor. But people really do need to learn
they're looking at who they're voting for. Think this is
a pivot point, and the Futures Commission did not sugarcoat

(07:30):
that these business leaders are like, some changes have got
to be made here, and are these the people who
can make the changes? People have to kind of decide
this is the path forwards everything we're hearing about.

Speaker 1 (07:42):
And we will count on the likes of Sharon Coolidge
others at the enquire and local reporting to give us
as much information on those candidates as possible. So maybe
we can write the ship would consider me, would make
appropriate decisions when we're voting. Sharon, let's pause. I want
to bring you back talk about the other issue, which
I think is I just keep laughing about it. Six
hundred million dollars taken from the railroad pot of money

(08:04):
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(09:12):
llc dot com. Fifty five KRC quick Weether sunny in
eighty seven today, over night, clear in sixty four, sonny
in eighty eight Tomorrow, overnight partly cloudy, chance of showers
of storm sixty four. Partly sunny on Friday with chances
of showers of storms eighty nine. Right now sixty six
traffic time from.

Speaker 2 (09:30):
The UCL Traffic Center. Nearly sixty percent of Americans waiting
on an organ transplanner from multicultural communities give the gift
of life. Sign up to be an organ downer. Today,
heavy traffic continues to build southbound seventy five and then
out of Lachland northbound seventy five and an extra fifteen
minutes between Florence and downtown inbound seventy four. Now post

(09:51):
slow go above Montana chuck Ingram Mount fifty five KRC.

Speaker 3 (09:55):
The talk station.

Speaker 1 (10:00):
If Kercytalxation. Brian Thomas with the Cincinnion inquires Sharon Coolidge,
pivoting over to the railroad money being used for property
tax relief. Of course, everybody is reeling from the massive
increase in property tax is brought about by Yes, a
corollary of COVID and the property values increasing. Many people
can't handle it. Many seniors are on fixed incomes and
the property tax bill goes up three by thirty percent,

(10:22):
and they are where am I going to get this money?
Entered Tom Brinkman, former Republican state representative who has proposed
a ballot initiative. Signatures being circulated as we speak. To
take six hundred dollars out of the one point six
billion dollar railroad fund from the stupid sale of the
railroad and put that into a separate fund to generate

(10:42):
revenue to help Cincinnati property owners of all sizes, shaped stripes,
and income values to get some property tax relief. Sharon,
can you imagine being able to vote to have money
to get money to lower your taxes? This sounds like
it probably would pass if they get enough signatures. What's
your take on this one.

Speaker 3 (11:01):
I definitely think there's some concern behind the scenes. No
one's really saying anything. Everyone's waiting. I mean, this is
a very tight timeline to get the petitions, the valid signatures.
I think people are kind of waiting.

Speaker 2 (11:14):
Uh.

Speaker 3 (11:15):
You know. Some of the public talking points are like,
of course people want to pay, they would want to
pay for all these services. I'm like, what does that
ballot language look like? I was like that, do you
want someone in the city to pay your property taxes?
That does seem like a yes to me? Not yeah,
I agree with you there.

Speaker 1 (11:34):
And not because I you know, from a matter of
you know, policy standpoint or my political leanings, think it's
you know, it's like, well, people can put their hand
in a cookie jar. They're got to put their hand
in a cookie jar. And I don't know that necessarily
that's the right thing to do, but this is I mean,
Tom Brigman was not in favor of the sale, and
he knows that people are suffering and struggling, and this

(11:55):
is a mechanism for people to take money away from
the seemingly limitless number of things that they could use
the money from that fund to go to, and force
them to give relief to the actual residents of the city.
I just I think it's a wonderful, you know, a
work of I don't know, brinksmanship. If I can may
make so loose with this with the phrase, you know,

(12:19):
I think.

Speaker 3 (12:19):
There's probably there's a lot of pieces to this one,
but he certainly has hit a nerve with what people
are thinking and feeling in the city. And I think
that's super important that like, this is the conversation that
people are feeling pinched. They can't afford to buy a house,
the real estate market is kind of stagnant, Like what
what does middle class look like in Cincinnati? And he's

(12:40):
really hit upon something where people are like, this is
what people are talking about in their real lives and
worried about and so it is an interesting conversation. Can
they do it? It's hard to tell because it has
like that state component, and everything is going to take
a lot more vetting, but it certainly seems like a
conversation that the actual citizens want to have.

Speaker 1 (13:02):
Themselves well and without Norfolk Southern's money involved in something
like this. Do you think there's going to be any
sort of funded opposition campaign? I mean, I think the
issue or the idea itself is about an issative sort
of sells itself under the circumstances. So will there be
a well funded or well organized opposition to doing this?

(13:23):
I guess?

Speaker 3 (13:25):
Well, here's the thing, so I'm not nothing is a
six million dollar campaign. Nothing. That is how much money
Norfolks un are and put into the campaign to pass
that railroad sale. Yeah, six million dollars of their own money.
And you know they didn't make any bones about it,
like the most I can't nothing ever comes close to that,
So it certainly not that. No, it's a tight timeline.

(13:48):
It's going to be hard to cut through. I don't
know if you've noticed there seems to be a presidential
election going on. And that is the news cycle that
this high. It's not like a city level news cycle, right.
It is people paying attention to the presidential race. It's
going to be very hard to cut through and make

(14:10):
the case either way. It's going to be really left.
I think the citizens they're going to look at the
bat language on the ballot and be like, what is this? Okay?
And it wouldn't be on the sample now that we
can't discount the sample ballot. Of course there will be
a sample ballot. I can't if this is on the ballot,
I would count on, you know, the sample ballot saying
no vote no. Uh. And I think the sample ballot

(14:34):
really is going to carry the day in so many cases. Yeah,
But do people look at this and like, hold, hold up,
do I want someone else to pay my property taxes?

Speaker 1 (14:43):
Well, and you know property taxes and whether you can
afford them or not. I'm sorry. That does not fall
into a political category that hits people equally regardless of
whether they belonged to the Republican or Democrat party, So
that maybe the Democrats would put vote no on the
blue none the blues slip maybe does not necessarily represent
the interest or the beliefs of the Democrats in the

(15:05):
city of Cincinnati since they got to pay the.

Speaker 3 (15:07):
Bill, which is a real thing.

Speaker 1 (15:11):
Yeah, it's really a real thing.

Speaker 3 (15:13):
Say, oh, the Democrat a Republican prosecutor share for all
these races, and like you maybe like somebody who don't
like somebody, but you have to get out your checkbook
and write a text to your property taxes. You don't
have a choice. People, I there's a real fear, Like
I have seen people cry about this. Yes, there's a

(15:33):
real fear. It's you know, it's it's kind of scary
to be honest.

Speaker 1 (15:37):
Well, keep writing about it and I'll keep my popcorn
out because this one I can't vote on it. It doesn't
impact me. I don't live in the city, but I
certainly have a profound interest in this and how it unfolds.
So Sharon Coolidge will be looking for the reporting onto
the enquire Cincinnati dot coms where you find sharing and
the crew, and I appreciate you coming on the program
and enlightening us as well as keeping up on the reporting. Sharon,
I look forward to talking to you again real soon.

(15:59):
Thanks for having anytime. Seven fifty seven stick around. Mike
we're gonna have some fun. Off top of the our
news the German are those German guys with an event
called Canteen Beer Garden monthly keg tapping that plus Judge
entited of Paul Tano at eight thirty to be right
back your campaign bitstop on the road to November.

Speaker 2 (16:19):
There's so much going on, I gotta check in a
few times a day.

Speaker 1 (16:22):
Fifty five krs the talk station