WEBVTT - 1-7-26 Sloan with Jeff Cramerding

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<v Speaker 1>Do you want to be an American? Good morning, Scott's

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<v Speaker 1>sold with you here seven hundred W. Wellwy. And grinding

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<v Speaker 1>it out.

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<v Speaker 2>Along with your getting ready for midweek here already first

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<v Speaker 2>week almost in the books, or at least halfway there.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm being an optimist. I've been an optimist.

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<v Speaker 2>This kind dropped yesterday during the swearing in of many

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<v Speaker 2>city officials. In order to address a thirty two million

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<v Speaker 2>dollar budget deficit in the coming fiscal year, Mayor after

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<v Speaker 2>a Purevall, wants city Council to place an income tax,

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<v Speaker 2>a payroll income tax, on the twenty twenty six ballot,

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<v Speaker 2>meaning if you work in the city, you will get

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<v Speaker 2>an extra tax.

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<v Speaker 1>There.

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<v Speaker 2>The money is going to go towards public safety and

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<v Speaker 2>what he called disrupting poverty whatever that means, affordable housing,

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<v Speaker 2>investment in the underserved neighborhood, support for minority owned business

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<v Speaker 2>and like Jeff Kramerding is here, council member and of

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<v Speaker 2>course chair Budget and Finance. Happy New year, Jeff, welcome back.

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<v Speaker 2>Good to have you. Hope you had a good break.

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<v Speaker 3>I did. Happy New Year. It's great to be back.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, all right, So there's a lot going on here.

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<v Speaker 2>I think people will immediately hear new taxes and they blosh.

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<v Speaker 2>The big picture is compared to peer cities, hell, compared

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<v Speaker 2>to Ohio cities, Cincinnati is still pretty good. Now, I'll

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<v Speaker 2>put a astros next to that, simply because we also

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<v Speaker 2>have the county taxes we have. You know, pot property

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<v Speaker 2>taxes are driving people crazy. Right now, we're paying museum taxes,

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<v Speaker 2>school tech and let you add it all up, and

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<v Speaker 2>it's a pretty good chunk of money. But the bird's

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<v Speaker 2>eye view is that comparatively speaking among peer city, Cincinnati

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<v Speaker 2>is still pretty good on this right.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah. I mean, just from the city and perspective, we

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<v Speaker 3>are very good. You know, all of our most of

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<v Speaker 3>our revenue comes from the Arnis tax. We're at one

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<v Speaker 3>point eight. All of our peer cities in IRA at

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<v Speaker 3>two point five, So there's substantially bringing in a higher

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<v Speaker 3>tax rates than we do in the city.

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<v Speaker 2>Of same time, though, you look at how much people

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<v Speaker 2>are going to pay more in property taxes and you

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<v Speaker 2>just you feel the bite. You can look at the

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<v Speaker 2>numbers and go, hey, that's great, but it seems like

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<v Speaker 2>I'm paying way more than that I should be at

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<v Speaker 2>this point, and I'm sure you're sensitive to that.

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<v Speaker 3>I am I understand. I understand that, and in going

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<v Speaker 3>to or door and talking to voters that that is

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<v Speaker 3>a dynamic. But you have citizens that are frustrated by

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<v Speaker 3>you know, by by litter and by other issues, and

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<v Speaker 3>you say, well, we've got to keep our earn tacks

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<v Speaker 3>artificially low. But the tacks are too high. So that

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<v Speaker 3>puts us in a very difficult spot. But it is

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<v Speaker 3>the reality, and I understand it well.

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<v Speaker 2>And I think this is again the timing of this

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<v Speaker 2>is kind of suspect too, or maybe not prime, and

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<v Speaker 2>that is we just had the shooting of that eleven

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<v Speaker 2>year old girl on New Year's Day at Laurel Park,

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<v Speaker 2>and two and a half years ago we had another

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<v Speaker 2>eleven year old boy that time murdered at the same park.

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<v Speaker 2>And the idea in September was, hey, we're going to

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<v Speaker 2>appropriate all this money five point four million towards public safety,

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<v Speaker 2>which may add to this issue of the thirty two

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<v Speaker 2>million dollar budget episodell get into a second, but the

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<v Speaker 2>takeaway I think for residents is whole hold on just

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<v Speaker 2>a second. We were spending this money. You gave you

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<v Speaker 2>one hundred fifty million to put CAM one hundred and

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<v Speaker 2>fifty thousand, rather put cameras in around this park, and

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<v Speaker 2>we haven't done that, and no one knows why, and

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<v Speaker 2>no one knows where the money is, and there are

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<v Speaker 2>a lot of unanswered questions I had, and all beyond yesterday.

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<v Speaker 2>She was confused by this. I'm sure you are as well.

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<v Speaker 2>And so the optics of this, said Jeff Gramerding, are that, well, great,

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<v Speaker 2>they're going to take more money in my paycheck. But

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<v Speaker 2>are they actually responsible with the money that I'm giving them?

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<v Speaker 1>Now, that's a fair question for yes.

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<v Speaker 3>First, I mean, what happened to the children is just unbelievable,

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<v Speaker 3>a terrible trategy that has to be addressed. It's important

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<v Speaker 3>that this has been and this has been a long

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<v Speaker 3>term conversation. It has to be. This conversation began with

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<v Speaker 3>the Cincinnati Future Session when business and civic leaders came

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<v Speaker 3>and looked at the city's budgets. The report, which was

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<v Speaker 3>very thorough which people should look at as a since

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<v Speaker 3>the Future Commission I came out in twenty twenty four

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<v Speaker 3>and said that there is a very real need. The

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<v Speaker 3>city's budget is not sustainable and they recommended two earnings

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<v Speaker 3>access one point five to sustained the city's budget and

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<v Speaker 3>one oh point one for housing economic development. So this

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<v Speaker 3>work has been ongoing for two years plus, from my perspective,

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<v Speaker 3>is dragged and it needs to be picked up and

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<v Speaker 3>needs to be at a more deliberate pace. And this

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<v Speaker 3>conversation is not directly related to what happened to the

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<v Speaker 3>tragic incidents.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, it isn't, but I think of the minds of

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<v Speaker 2>voters like, well, wait a minute, there's no accountability for

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<v Speaker 2>the money that was already allocated for the cameras and

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<v Speaker 2>now we've got literally have blood on hands, is a sense,

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<v Speaker 2>because I don't know if it would have prevented the

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<v Speaker 2>murder of this poor girl, this child. But it's certainly

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<v Speaker 2>not good from an optics perspective that one hundred and

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<v Speaker 2>fifty thousand dollars supposed to go to cameras and no

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<v Speaker 2>one knows who is responsible, why it's taking some there's

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<v Speaker 2>just literally no answers. And then you come back saying, hey,

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<v Speaker 2>by the way, we're gonna hit you with a payroll tax.

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<v Speaker 2>It's not a good look.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, I understand that. And once again it's important to

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<v Speaker 3>frame this in the big picture and what this money

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<v Speaker 3>will go for. Keep in mind that the futures commissioning

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<v Speaker 3>a very small earning stack, that's to still a hole,

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<v Speaker 3>that's an existing gap in our budget. So I want

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<v Speaker 3>to be very cautious. You know, if we're talking about

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<v Speaker 3>a very small earning stack, we're talking about filling that

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<v Speaker 3>whole continuing service as there is. There's certainly no money

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<v Speaker 3>for increased police or increased fire or increase public safety.

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<v Speaker 3>So I mean, we just need to be very careful

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<v Speaker 3>what we're promising and frame this very important large to beate.

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<v Speaker 2>Okay, so people hear this and go, all right, public safety, Yeah,

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<v Speaker 2>we got to spend there. And disrupting poverty and neighborhood

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<v Speaker 2>investment and affordable housing is big. But disrupting poverty and

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<v Speaker 2>support for minority owned businesses and people and desertively, So

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<v Speaker 2>look at it and go, what talk about accountability? Where's

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<v Speaker 2>that money going? Is it more programs? Is it is

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<v Speaker 2>it satisides? Is it just unaccounted for cash and we're

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<v Speaker 2>gonna we're going to pay off some people basically disrupting poverty. Going, Okay,

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<v Speaker 2>it's one of the root causes of violence. But I

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<v Speaker 2>also think that that is demeaning in a sense, Jeff,

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<v Speaker 2>because the idea is if you're poor, you're going to

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<v Speaker 2>turn to criminal activity, and that's just simply not true. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 2>a lot of the people who commit crimes are poor,

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<v Speaker 2>but there's a lot of people who are below the

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<v Speaker 2>poverty line are close to it, that are suffering, that

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<v Speaker 2>don't resport to criminal activity. The idea that we have

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<v Speaker 2>to pay people not to rob is I think that's insulting.

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<v Speaker 3>I agree, and I think as far as we talked

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<v Speaker 3>about part of your expects used to fill a whole

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<v Speaker 3>and part of it will it would be looking back

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<v Speaker 3>to since the Future Commission talking about economic development and housing,

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<v Speaker 3>they proposed a point one for economic development housing. The

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<v Speaker 3>largest bucket of money I was for housing economic development

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<v Speaker 3>in neighborhoods like Christville and Bonto where the city Sycay

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<v Speaker 3>does not have the resources to create the development that

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<v Speaker 3>we want. So I think that I development like that,

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<v Speaker 3>proactive positivelopment is critical is the foundation for of any

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<v Speaker 3>crime and that's what that should be the core around

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<v Speaker 3>any earning stack in any conversations throughound earning stack increase.

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<v Speaker 2>Council Member Jeff Cramerting, a Chair Budget and Finance, talking

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<v Speaker 2>about the proposed payroll tax that I have to have

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<v Speaker 2>mentioned yesterday and you got about I think sixty days

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<v Speaker 2>to come up with a plan for this whole thing.

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<v Speaker 2>Correct me if I'm wrong with the city. We operated

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<v Speaker 2>without deficits through COVID and ore's federal money there too.

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<v Speaker 2>But what specifically changed in the past year to create

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<v Speaker 2>this thirty two million dollar hole. The rumor is it's

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<v Speaker 2>police overtime, it's the crime issue.

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<v Speaker 3>I would say that that that's not correct. Police overtime

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<v Speaker 3>is a big factor. But you know, this is the

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<v Speaker 3>city's budget being unbalanced is the reason I decided to

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<v Speaker 3>run for council four years ago. This, you know, you know,

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<v Speaker 3>going back, and this is in the Futures Commission. We've

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<v Speaker 3>been operating on about a twenty five million dollar deficit

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<v Speaker 3>a year and a year out and we always find

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<v Speaker 3>a way to paper overage. And this is going back,

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<v Speaker 3>you know ten years ago. Now the state government cut

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<v Speaker 3>what is called the state and local government bucks the

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<v Speaker 3>City of Cincinnati. It hurt other cities, That hurt all

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<v Speaker 3>the townships and townships and cities had to make tough decisions.

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<v Speaker 3>They had either had to raise taxes or they had

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<v Speaker 3>to cut services. Painful, but they did here in the city,

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<v Speaker 3>sin Sanni. I say, we did what we always do

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<v Speaker 3>the city Sincanni. We put our head in the sand

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<v Speaker 3>and hope the problem would go away. But it had.

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<v Speaker 3>So this problem has continued to grow a year and

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<v Speaker 3>every year. You mentioned the federal stimulus dollars. We had

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<v Speaker 3>that money from Washington, which let us paper it over

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<v Speaker 3>for a couple of years. After that. From a revenue perspective,

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<v Speaker 3>the city has just said boom years the last couple

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<v Speaker 3>of years, and that's let us payer over this deficits.

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<v Speaker 3>But the problem remains. So we can either be proactive

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<v Speaker 3>and address it now or wait till there's a recession,

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<v Speaker 3>which will happen at some point and the city's be

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<v Speaker 3>looking at very very real cuts and basic city services

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<v Speaker 3>and possibly layoffs. So that's the reason I want to

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<v Speaker 3>get proactive. Put a proposal in front of the voters,

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<v Speaker 3>give them all the information, put our budget out there,

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<v Speaker 3>which I understand nobody's aware of the realities right now.

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<v Speaker 3>We need to make voters citizens aware of that and

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<v Speaker 3>let them make a conscientious decisions.

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<v Speaker 1>All right.

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<v Speaker 2>So, Lyndon Baines Johnson declared the War on Poverty back

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<v Speaker 2>in the nineteen sixties. We saw how that worked out.

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<v Speaker 2>Yesterday the mayor Aftered Puirreval said, this money, the thirty

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<v Speaker 2>two million, good chunk of that is going to go

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<v Speaker 2>to public safe but also disrupting poverty.

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<v Speaker 1>What does that mean?

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<v Speaker 3>Can talk about what disrupting poverty means to him? From

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<v Speaker 3>my perspective, any earning sect needs fous on housing economics,

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<v Speaker 3>development in neighbors where there's not development occurring. To me,

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<v Speaker 3>that will be critical to turning around his neighbors and

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<v Speaker 3>reducing crime. That's where I'm going to be as this

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<v Speaker 3>conversation develops, and that's where I would encourage others to be.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, that just kind of scares me because that's just like, Okay,

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<v Speaker 2>it feels good, but what does that mean disrupting We're

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<v Speaker 2>trying to disrupt and pay people not to be poor

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<v Speaker 2>for a long time. It's not working jobs in the initiative.

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<v Speaker 2>Work seems to be a bigger issue, and certainly a

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<v Speaker 2>sfordable housing fits into that as well. And I think

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<v Speaker 2>people hear that and they're a little bit curious at

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<v Speaker 2>the very least as to where their money is going

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<v Speaker 2>to wind up going, because it doesn't hit you in

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<v Speaker 2>the pocketbook. So if crime doesn't drop, or we don't

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<v Speaker 2>crush poverty, which isn't going to happen in affordable housing

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<v Speaker 2>has not as materializes, how are you going to measure

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<v Speaker 2>that success? You know it, we'll put throw money at it.

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<v Speaker 2>But it seems there's again back to the accountability issue.

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<v Speaker 2>I think that that's critical here and that seems to

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<v Speaker 2>be a thread throughout the conversations we have, whether it's

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<v Speaker 2>poverty or crime is we'll take the money, will spend it,

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<v Speaker 2>but there doesn't seem to be that much accountability.

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<v Speaker 1>If it doesn't work out, what happens, I.

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<v Speaker 3>Think, well, first of all, I think people should look

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<v Speaker 3>at the futures submission because I think that there is

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<v Speaker 3>a lot in there, and I think that we'll tell

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<v Speaker 3>people that this is a very solid foundation to begin

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<v Speaker 3>this conversation. You know, there's some stuff in there that

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<v Speaker 3>is probably gonna be a non starter. There's definitely there

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<v Speaker 3>is recommendations for a trash acts. There was a recommendations

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<v Speaker 3>to sell some golf courses and green spaces. We received

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<v Speaker 3>a lot of negative and immediate feedback on those proposals,

0:11:05.800 --> 0:11:08.000
<v Speaker 3>so we heard residents. But I think there is a

0:11:08.000 --> 0:11:10.800
<v Speaker 3>lot and that people will like and will lead to

0:11:10.920 --> 0:11:13.199
<v Speaker 3>positive change in the neighborhood. And that's me part of

0:11:13.240 --> 0:11:16.640
<v Speaker 3>the conversation and how you structure it. When we did

0:11:16.640 --> 0:11:19.320
<v Speaker 3>the railroad sale, we promised to put all that money

0:11:19.320 --> 0:11:23.280
<v Speaker 3>into trust and lock boxes. That's been overwhelming successful. I

0:11:23.320 --> 0:11:25.280
<v Speaker 3>think every degree that was a wise move. That money

0:11:25.320 --> 0:11:28.560
<v Speaker 3>is still in a lock box protected by city ordinance

0:11:29.040 --> 0:11:31.880
<v Speaker 3>and state ordans. So if you're talking about an earning

0:11:31.920 --> 0:11:34.400
<v Speaker 3>sex economic development, how thing you could do it the

0:11:34.440 --> 0:11:36.880
<v Speaker 3>same way. So, yes, how we do this is be

0:11:37.000 --> 0:11:40.000
<v Speaker 3>very important. The accountabilities can be very important, and that's

0:11:40.080 --> 0:11:42.080
<v Speaker 3>me part of the conversation. That has to be part

0:11:42.120 --> 0:11:42.800
<v Speaker 3>of the conversation.

0:11:43.320 --> 0:11:45.920
<v Speaker 2>Where's the line Je crame and doing this right and

0:11:45.960 --> 0:11:49.240
<v Speaker 2>then driving people away. If you make seventy five grand,

0:11:49.280 --> 0:11:50.920
<v Speaker 2>you're going to pay something like one hundred and ten

0:11:50.960 --> 0:11:53.040
<v Speaker 2>extra a year, one hundred and fifties to twenty five.

0:11:54.120 --> 0:11:56.679
<v Speaker 2>We're crunching some numbers in the newsroom and this is

0:11:56.720 --> 0:11:59.720
<v Speaker 2>outline obviously, but someone like Hunter Green would pay an

0:11:59.720 --> 0:12:03.480
<v Speaker 2>extra sixty seventy thousand dollars here because of this? Is

0:12:03.480 --> 0:12:05.720
<v Speaker 2>there a concern you're going to drive out the desperately

0:12:05.760 --> 0:12:08.080
<v Speaker 2>needed quote unquote rich people that we often, I wait,

0:12:08.280 --> 0:12:10.480
<v Speaker 2>just tax the rich more. But what happens is we

0:12:10.480 --> 0:12:12.440
<v Speaker 2>saw in New York and other areas they move out

0:12:14.120 --> 0:12:18.760
<v Speaker 2>is Kentucky Mason and are they becoming more attractive to

0:12:19.800 --> 0:12:21.959
<v Speaker 2>people who are hiringcome earners and what does that mean

0:12:22.000 --> 0:12:22.160
<v Speaker 2>for this?

0:12:23.160 --> 0:12:25.440
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, I think there's there's two points. First of all,

0:12:26.240 --> 0:12:29.079
<v Speaker 3>the business community I believe in the city is very

0:12:29.080 --> 0:12:32.839
<v Speaker 3>sensites that are for business leaders like Tim Spence. It's

0:12:32.840 --> 0:12:36.720
<v Speaker 3>a third to come together and say, yes, this modest

0:12:36.720 --> 0:12:39.800
<v Speaker 3>tax increase, this modest earning tax increase makes sense. I

0:12:39.840 --> 0:12:42.600
<v Speaker 3>think that is a lot when business leaders say this

0:12:42.720 --> 0:12:45.600
<v Speaker 3>makes sense, we need this development, we need some more money.

0:12:45.640 --> 0:12:47.240
<v Speaker 3>So that was the first thing. I think having the

0:12:47.240 --> 0:12:51.560
<v Speaker 3>business community involved at the outset without politicians is critically important.

0:12:52.000 --> 0:12:54.480
<v Speaker 3>And secondly, I'll point out, as we discussed at the

0:12:54.480 --> 0:12:57.960
<v Speaker 3>outset that our earning SAX is much lower than any

0:12:58.000 --> 0:13:01.240
<v Speaker 3>of our city. So you know, using that logic, every

0:13:01.400 --> 0:13:06.640
<v Speaker 3>everybody's choosing Cincinnati over Columbus and Cleveland. Even with these increases,

0:13:07.080 --> 0:13:09.200
<v Speaker 3>this takes me much lower than those other cities. So

0:13:09.240 --> 0:13:11.559
<v Speaker 3>we'll still be winning compared to our other peers.

0:13:11.880 --> 0:13:14.560
<v Speaker 2>Right, Yeah, honesty, that's fair too, is that you know,

0:13:14.640 --> 0:13:16.480
<v Speaker 2>business is moving out, and that's what the concern is.

0:13:16.520 --> 0:13:19.839
<v Speaker 2>We've seen some high profile businesses move and it might

0:13:19.840 --> 0:13:22.920
<v Speaker 2>be because of crime, but this just adds another reason

0:13:22.960 --> 0:13:23.480
<v Speaker 2>to do that.

0:13:23.480 --> 0:13:25.719
<v Speaker 1>That's the scary part for you guys.

0:13:25.880 --> 0:13:28.920
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, I agree with you, don't like to raise taxes.

0:13:29.480 --> 0:13:32.720
<v Speaker 3>That's a factor. But I think, uh, having a safe,

0:13:33.160 --> 0:13:35.920
<v Speaker 3>vibor liberal city is going to be more important for

0:13:36.120 --> 0:13:42.120
<v Speaker 3>businesses and equally important for potential employees than a sect.

0:13:42.320 --> 0:13:44.520
<v Speaker 3>But that's only part of the conversation looking forward. I

0:13:45.080 --> 0:13:47.120
<v Speaker 3>don't want to west over that and say it's not

0:13:47.200 --> 0:13:48.600
<v Speaker 3>a factor. It's definitely got to be part of the

0:13:48.640 --> 0:13:51.880
<v Speaker 3>conversation as we've perceived for the next couple of months.

0:13:52.600 --> 0:13:55.240
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, is the is the timing on this a little

0:13:55.280 --> 0:13:57.560
<v Speaker 2>bit sus in the sense that hey, you just got

0:13:57.559 --> 0:13:59.199
<v Speaker 2>re elected, things are great, and now we're going to

0:13:59.280 --> 0:14:02.600
<v Speaker 2>hit you with this tax took literally days the same

0:14:02.679 --> 0:14:05.040
<v Speaker 2>day that everyone is has been sworn in.

0:14:05.640 --> 0:14:07.880
<v Speaker 1>They want to get this going within sixty days.

0:14:08.360 --> 0:14:10.960
<v Speaker 3>So the report came out in the spring of twenty

0:14:11.040 --> 0:14:15.079
<v Speaker 3>twenty four. There was a conversation about going to about

0:14:15.160 --> 0:14:18.880
<v Speaker 3>into twenty four two years ago, there is a conversation

0:14:18.960 --> 0:14:22.640
<v Speaker 3>about going to about in twenty twenty five last year

0:14:22.680 --> 0:14:24.680
<v Speaker 3>when we are on the ballot and there is never

0:14:24.960 --> 0:14:28.680
<v Speaker 3>enough consensus to do that, which is fine, this has

0:14:28.720 --> 0:14:32.480
<v Speaker 3>to be done right, but you know, raising taxes, talking

0:14:32.520 --> 0:14:34.800
<v Speaker 3>about taxes is present. There's never going to be a

0:14:34.800 --> 0:14:37.560
<v Speaker 3>perfect time. So at some point of the city we're

0:14:37.560 --> 0:14:40.040
<v Speaker 3>going to have to decide to do this, be bold

0:14:40.080 --> 0:14:44.320
<v Speaker 3>and aggressive and put something before the voters. You know

0:14:44.560 --> 0:14:47.120
<v Speaker 3>as a politician that this is not going to be popular,

0:14:47.200 --> 0:14:49.000
<v Speaker 3>This is not going to be this is not going

0:14:49.040 --> 0:14:52.840
<v Speaker 3>to be a fun conversation. I realized that I knew

0:14:52.840 --> 0:14:54.560
<v Speaker 3>what I was getting into, but it's one that the

0:14:54.600 --> 0:14:58.160
<v Speaker 3>city has to have. So I am not wedded to

0:14:58.240 --> 0:15:00.840
<v Speaker 3>going in the spring or the all. But you know,

0:15:01.080 --> 0:15:02.960
<v Speaker 3>I will point out that this is now drug lunch

0:15:03.280 --> 0:15:06.120
<v Speaker 3>for two years. I want to get it right. And

0:15:06.200 --> 0:15:08.760
<v Speaker 3>if there's hard conversations going on, if people around the

0:15:08.800 --> 0:15:11.880
<v Speaker 3>table really look at this, that's fine. But if we're

0:15:11.920 --> 0:15:14.080
<v Speaker 3>just waiting for the sake of waiting, then I think

0:15:14.080 --> 0:15:15.160
<v Speaker 3>that's unacceptable.

0:15:15.320 --> 0:15:17.600
<v Speaker 2>One of the things the Futures Commission call FORER was

0:15:17.840 --> 0:15:19.000
<v Speaker 2>a trash collection fee.

0:15:19.040 --> 0:15:19.720
<v Speaker 1>It's never been done.

0:15:20.040 --> 0:15:23.800
<v Speaker 2>Resalizing the water works that's going to require voter approval obviously,

0:15:23.800 --> 0:15:26.480
<v Speaker 2>and those are difficult politically because it just feels like,

0:15:26.520 --> 0:15:30.120
<v Speaker 2>you know, hey, here's another tax. One of those go

0:15:30.200 --> 0:15:32.640
<v Speaker 2>on the belt because voters might might ask reasonably, why

0:15:32.680 --> 0:15:35.080
<v Speaker 2>should we approve a tax increase, wanting to try other

0:15:35.120 --> 0:15:35.920
<v Speaker 2>revenue options.

0:15:35.960 --> 0:15:37.280
<v Speaker 1>The Future's Commission recommended.

0:15:38.240 --> 0:15:40.720
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, so there's a lot of recommendations. As I said,

0:15:40.760 --> 0:15:43.960
<v Speaker 3>I mean, I will not lie. The trash check received

0:15:44.000 --> 0:15:47.520
<v Speaker 3>a lot of negative feedback. So you know, I've noted

0:15:47.560 --> 0:15:51.440
<v Speaker 3>that waterworks. You know, that's very complex. It's going to

0:15:51.480 --> 0:15:54.560
<v Speaker 3>take a lot of steps. That's not a tax, but

0:15:55.320 --> 0:15:58.560
<v Speaker 3>some sort of regionalizing water works and so it's not

0:15:58.800 --> 0:16:01.520
<v Speaker 3>solely under the city. You know, if that's complex, but

0:16:01.600 --> 0:16:05.000
<v Speaker 3>there's no reason we should not start that conversation. These

0:16:05.000 --> 0:16:08.080
<v Speaker 3>are again difficult conversations, but you know, we're here to

0:16:08.120 --> 0:16:11.080
<v Speaker 3>have difficult conversations. So I think I know that before

0:16:11.120 --> 0:16:14.200
<v Speaker 3>this conversation, people are going to want to know that

0:16:14.440 --> 0:16:18.400
<v Speaker 3>many things are ongoing, including looking at water, including looking

0:16:18.520 --> 0:16:21.920
<v Speaker 3>into the pension system, solvents. The Office of Strategic Growth

0:16:22.480 --> 0:16:26.200
<v Speaker 3>definitely was a focused point of the Futures Commission that

0:16:26.280 --> 0:16:29.360
<v Speaker 3>has not been done. I would expect there to be

0:16:29.600 --> 0:16:33.080
<v Speaker 3>quick progress on that front before this thing get gets

0:16:33.080 --> 0:16:35.800
<v Speaker 3>to memental because that's one a critical item that was

0:16:35.800 --> 0:16:38.120
<v Speaker 3>in the Future Commission. There are other items in there

0:16:38.120 --> 0:16:39.720
<v Speaker 3>that are equally important that we can have to have

0:16:39.760 --> 0:16:41.120
<v Speaker 3>progress on to make this work.

0:16:42.040 --> 0:16:44.120
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, and the Future Commission did their report. You got

0:16:44.120 --> 0:16:47.360
<v Speaker 2>sixty days to put something together per the mayor to

0:16:47.640 --> 0:16:50.080
<v Speaker 2>get it to voters. Hopefully it becomes more clear because

0:16:50.360 --> 0:16:53.080
<v Speaker 2>we honestly deserve to know what disrupting poverty means. And

0:16:53.440 --> 0:16:56.360
<v Speaker 2>you know, neighborhood investment and support for businesses and that

0:16:56.400 --> 0:16:58.200
<v Speaker 2>those are all vague and there's got to be more

0:16:58.200 --> 0:17:02.520
<v Speaker 2>specifics to that whole thing. Otherwise it just feels like, hey,

0:17:02.560 --> 0:17:04.680
<v Speaker 2>you're asking for money and there's going to be no accountability.

0:17:04.680 --> 0:17:05.719
<v Speaker 1>Hopefully you can get that address.

0:17:05.800 --> 0:17:08.480
<v Speaker 2>Jeff Cramerton share a Budget and Finance of the City

0:17:08.520 --> 0:17:09.600
<v Speaker 2>of Cincinnati Council Member.

0:17:09.640 --> 0:17:11.560
<v Speaker 1>Thanks again for the time. Appreciate it.

0:17:11.680 --> 0:17:13.520
<v Speaker 3>Ah, it's great, great to be with you and your listeners.

0:17:13.520 --> 0:17:13.760
<v Speaker 1>See.

0:17:13.760 --> 0:17:15.880
<v Speaker 2>Well, thanks, We've got to get a news update in

0:17:16.240 --> 0:17:18.000
<v Speaker 2>and I know it's coming at you in all directions.

0:17:18.920 --> 0:17:22.520
<v Speaker 2>The big picture, of course is yeah, these city taxes

0:17:22.560 --> 0:17:25.320
<v Speaker 2>are relatively low compared to other cities in Ohio and

0:17:26.080 --> 0:17:28.399
<v Speaker 2>certainly peer cities, so there's room there, but no one

0:17:28.440 --> 0:17:30.840
<v Speaker 2>wants to pay more taxes, and especially you know, with

0:17:31.040 --> 0:17:34.480
<v Speaker 2>property taxes and the county digging into your pocket a

0:17:34.480 --> 0:17:36.439
<v Speaker 2>little bit more. You know, you start talking about, now

0:17:36.440 --> 0:17:38.000
<v Speaker 2>I gotta pay for trash, I gotta pay for this,

0:17:38.080 --> 0:17:40.359
<v Speaker 2>that it all adds up, even though the technical it's not.

0:17:40.640 --> 0:17:43.119
<v Speaker 2>You know, it's just another tax I don't care what

0:17:43.160 --> 0:17:45.240
<v Speaker 2>they call it, but it just feels that way, and perception,

0:17:45.320 --> 0:17:46.320
<v Speaker 2>of course, is reality.

0:17:46.480 --> 0:17:48.080
<v Speaker 1>Saloney seven hundred WLW