Cincinnati's Banks Development: Ohio Slated To Approve Big State Loan Monday

COUMBUS (TDB) -- State officials are expected to approve a $5.48 million loan to Hamilton County for a parking, bus and commuter train structure on the Ohio River that will be topped by The Banks. Ohio plans to formally approve a 15-year loan for a portion of the $75.7 million transit center financial package when the state Controlling Board meets on Monday. State records describe the loan as "intended to leverage public transportation improvements to stimulate private investment by providing a podium structure that supports a mixed-use development including residential, office, hotel and retail space in a formerly blighted area."

Of the $75.7 million total for the "podium structure," records show $4 million will come from a private developer. The other $71.7 million is from public funds.

There has to be a "podium" because the site is low-lying real estate in the river's floodplain. And the so-called "blighted area" is about 18 acres on the downtown riverfront. It is the spot where Riverfront Stadium used to stand until it was demolished and replaced by new football and baseball stadiums for the Bengals and Reds. The loan documents are before the Controlling Board, which is scheduled to vote on the deal October 29. Information about The Banks is here.

The Controlling Board agenda is here, and item 26 relates to The Banks. The loan request says:

"The Ohio Department of Development (ODOD) financing assistance represents 7.2 percent of the total investment of $75,771,718 at the project site. Job creation is not a requirement of this program. The project includes the development and the construction of a two-story intermodal transit and parking structure along the river bank in downtown Cincinnati."

And:

"The ODOD will have a shared mortgage position on real estate included in the above project, which will be located in the City of Cincinnati, Hamilton County. This project will facilitate the development of a new community of retail, office and residential units on a former Brownfield site on the Cincinnati, Ohio riverfront. This project will help position the city for new development and revitalization in the downtown area."

Ohio Atty. Gen. Marc Dann: No Public Funds Can Be Used In Tax Campaigns

COLUMBUS (TDB) -- Ohio's Democratic Atty. Gen. Marc Dann has issued an opinion that declares state law clearly bans any expenditure of "public funds to publish, distribute, or otherwise communicate information that supports or opposes the passage of a levy or bond issue . . ." Dann's office released the opinion Oct. 23 in response to a request from the prosecutor in Putnam County, who said the local health district wanted to solicit financial donations from townships in order to promote a campaign aimed at increasing property taxes. Dann said government entities are supposed to be neutral.

Officials are free to express opinions and campaign, but they can't use public money to push their views on voters.

His opinion comes at the same times as a major blow up in Hamilton County, where Republican Sheriff Simon Leis sent letters in the pay envelopes of 1,072 employees urging them to vote for a half-cent sales tax increase on Nov. 6. About $736 million would be raised for a new jail, drug treatment and rehab programs, and police patrols in high crime areas. Opponents of the tax hike said the sheriff had campaigned on the public dime. They sued in state court and lost, but obtained a settlement in federal court Wednesday that requires the sheriff to send anti-tax literature to county workers. The settlement appears to contradict Dann's view of Ohio law, which points out it is equally improper to use public facilities to distribute literature against the levy -- which is what the court settlement calls for.

Dann's opinion relies upon an Ohio statute, R.C. 9.03, that in so many words says the government must adhere to a policy of strict neutrality. The law states that public funds cannot be used on electioneering that "supports or opposes the nomination or election of a candidate for public office, the investigation, prosecution, or recall of a public official, or the passage of a levy or bond issue."

Dann said government agencies can disseminate information, but that it must simply explain the facts, not stray into promotion. An opinion issued by former Republican Attorney General Betty Montgomery explained the distinction.

"The general authority to expend funds and administer public programs, however, does not permit a public body or a public official to expend public funds specifically to attempt to persuade people to voter a particular way on a ballot issue -- that is, to say '"Vote Yes on Issue X.'

The full-text of Dann's 12-page opinion is here. And while it addresses Putnam County alone, it recaps what the rules are in Ohio.