DeWine and Bortz push for a merger of services

 

By Joe Wessels

Post contributor

 

A Hamilton County commissioner and a Cincinnati City Council member are urging the county and its cities to take the first steps toward the merger of some local government services - or at least toward asking whether such cooperation would save taxpayers' money.

 

http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061115/NEWS01/611150362/1010/RSS01

I think Cincinnati, and projects like The Banks and OTR, would benefit greatly from the synergies that could be achieved from this.  Stop the bickering and get people working together!

Nice to see a few politicians with the grapes to start promoting this idea.  I believe the way they are approaching it is best, a little at first, show some savings and results, then move on to bigger hurdles.

^ Agree, I think a future merger between Cincinnati and Hamilton county is a good idea for the region.  There is too much overlap with many of these little towns and townships. As for identity loss, not in Cincinnati...  This is the first metro I have lived in where the neighborhood identity is alive and well.  Most cities just mention a directional region like, "North St. Louis" - of course there is always the exception for prominent neighborhoods.

 

The only thing that would concern me about a merger is political demographics.  Hamilton County leans, "conservative" and the city of Cincinnati leans, "liberal".  We don't need hate groups like the CCV influencing city laws anymore then they already do.  The city is becoming more progressive and we don't need close minded views in city hall.

I can't wait to be the largest city in Ohio and the 13th largest nationally.  Think about it, a city, county merger would make cincinnati almost twice the size of Atlanta!

I think this would be a great idea.  Seems that the city vs. county tug of war is a huge part of what holds Cincinnati back.  Everybody needs to get on the same page.

The fact that the people in the city won't want to give up power [330,000 votes out of about 810,000 total(naturally not everyone is eligible to vote) ] and that the outer suburbs might be unwilling to give up their white, rich supermajorities will be an issue, but it is really in the best interests of everyone for the merger.  For the inner suburbs, they really need the help.

The fact that the people in the city won't want to give up power [330,000 votes out of about 810,000 total(naturally not everyone is eligible to vote) ] and that the outer suburbs might be unwilling to give up their white, rich supermajorities will be an issue, but it is really in the best interests of everyone for the merger.  For the inner suburbs, they really need the help.

 

It's interesting because I recall learning in college about Marxist predictions about the negative consequences of Capitalism, and Marx predicted this would happen.  The haves and have-nots segregated and the gap widening over time.  This merger is a step towards socialism, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Baby steps - it is good to see politicians from the city and county working together.  It is good to have some tension as a check and balance, but the recent relationship has been paralyzing.  I do not foresee a full blown merger, but maybe some sort of uni-gov?

Ending overlap and saving tax payer money is the main priority.  I don't care about claiming a city of 800,000 if the core is weak with a lack of high density.  More regional cooperation would be better with the 15 counties coordinating somewhat joint efforts.  It'll be needed with the changes this region has and will experience.

I was trying for like 20 minutes to figure out whether a certain address on Reading Road near the Cross County Highway was in Reading or Cincinnati. I finally realized that it is in neither. There is a tiny fragment of Sycamore Township that still exists between wedged in between the Cincinnati neighborhood of Roselawn and the City of Reading.

 

 

This is completely separate from the other part of Sycamore Township, which is where the Kenwood Mall is located:

 

 

I'm posting this here because it reminded me of an idea we published on UrbanCincy a few years ago: It’s Time to Consolidate Local Governments in Hamilton County. I don't care whether this tiny piece of Sycamore Township is annexed by Cincinnati or Reading, but it needs to belong to one of the two.

There is also a park of Sycamore Township located up off Montgomery Road by I-275 and Cornell Road area.

All the townships already assume that they're part of Cincinnati because they don't understand how townships work and it says Cincinnati on their mail, so they might as well get annexed. On the other hand though, do we really want the people of Delhi and Green and Anderson having the ability to actually influence Cincinnati's politics?

The Simpson Rd. area wedged between College Hill, North College Hill, and Colerain Twp is a tiny piece of Springfield Twp completely cut off from the rest of that township.  As a result, it has an air of lawlessness about it. 

On 7/30/2016 at 10:09 PM, Brutus_buckeye said:

There is also a park of Sycamore Township located up off Montgomery Road by I-275 and Cornell Road area.

 

Oops, I didn't zoom out enough. Here's the full Sycamore Township:

 

 

Columbia Township:

 

 

Springfield Township:

 

 

Symmes Township:

 

 

 

You can see incorporated versus unincorporated areas pretty well on my transit map at http://www.jjakucyk.com/transit/map/index.html though I don't have township boundaries drawn.  That little bit of Columbia Township between Pleasant Ridge, Amberley, and Golf Manor is a cute little neighborhood called Ridgewood that seems to embrace its "separateness" from everything else with some signs and benches https://goo.gl/maps/7FHZJJRwme72 It's a pretty full-on pre-WWII outer city neighborhood though, with nice streets, curbs and sidewalks (mostly), rear-yard electric, and even gas lights.  It looks like it was developed by the same outfit that built a lot of Roselawn between Losantiville Avenue and Section Road on either side of Reading, as well as streets like Drakewood and several between Brotherton and the HP Country Club in Oakley.  I bet there's a story behind it never getting annexed beyond the usual benefits of city services with township taxes sponge game. 

People need to get over this idea that their neighborhood has a "special story".  There simply aren't many areas within the United States that have truly unique stories, and it's incredibly unlikely that one of them should happen to be an otherwise nondescript Cincinnati neighborhood.

Jake for someone who knows so much about Cincinnati, it's disappointing to hear you say that.

The Simpson Rd. area wedged between College Hill, North College Hill, and Colerain Twp is a tiny piece of Springfield Twp completely cut off from the rest of that township.  As a result, it has an air of lawlessness about it. 

 

 

Looks like Cincinnati does have a South Side.

The Simpson Rd. area wedged between College Hill, North College Hill, and Colerain Twp is a tiny piece of Springfield Twp completely cut off from the rest of that township.  As a result, it has an air of lawlessness about it. 

 

 

Looks like Cincinnati does have a South Side.

 

I was taking photos of every house on every street in the days before Google Streetview, and had someone in that area charge at me with a garden hoe. 

 

An uptick in annexation speculation occurred in 2016 as the financial woes of Norwood and Elmwood Place continued. 

Here are the cities and villages Cincinnati completely surrounds or borders:

 

Norwood (19,000)

North College Hill (11,300)

Cheviot (8,300)

St. Bernard (4,300)

Golf Manor (3,500)

Elmwood Place (2,000)

Fairfax (1,600)

Addyston (930)

Arlington Heights (750)

 

Elmwood Place is probably the most vulnerable to annexation by Cincinnati since it is completely surrounded, is in miserable economic condition, and seems to lack any sort of identity whatsoever. 

you, as the city of cincinnati, would have to ask yourself - why do i want any of these places to be part of my city? is there some tax base (existing or potential)- businesses, property, population that would be beneficial to you, the city? most of these places might make geographic sense to be a part of the city, but would likely do nothing but be a drag on the city's resources.

^ A few years back Elmwood wanted to merge with St. Bernard, which (probably wisely, IMO) turned that idea down. I'll be really curious to see what happens with Norwood.

You should throw Silverton(4500) in there. Small is inefficient unless you raise taxes to crazy levels.

Silverton and Amberly. They are already in CPS for schools and that is the biggest driver of property taxes. It may actually save on some taxes if they are annexed into the city. I don't know if the they would benefit the city much since both areas are largely residential and not much of a corporate tax base.

At least there's money density with Amberley. No earnings taxes, but it's not like some suburbs that are only worth $100,000 per half-acre.

you, as the city of cincinnati, would have to ask yourself - why do i want any of these places to be part of my city? is there some tax base (existing or potential)- businesses, property, population that would be beneficial to you, the city? most of these places might make geographic sense to be a part of the city, but would likely do nothing but be a drag on the city's resources.

 

I think Norwood makes sense in that it's both large enough & borders Cincinnati in such a way (right smack dab in the middle, actually) where it would be advantagious to have it be part of the city. (Common strategies for transit routes, stop luring businesses away from each other, etc.)

 

If cincinnati wants the added population a better strategy than annexation would be to get serious about adding people in the Core where we already are supporting the infrastructure. We say we want growth but we still have things like parking minimums and complicated zoning rules that make it easier to develop out in the exurbs.

Yes, I think it makes perfect sense to annex Norwood.

^ Norwood is bankrupt

Imagine what could happen if John Kasich, instead of just starving local governments of funding, actually made an effort to increase local government efficiency by encouraging small municipalities to merge with adjacent larger ones. It really makes no sense for them to exist anymore, and a lot of money could be saved by eliminating duplicative services. These type of annexations make a lot more sense, and would result in a lot more savings, than doing a city-county merger.

^ Norwood is bankrupt

 

Yes, but there's a lot of growth occurring in Norwood. Is it safe to say that they aren't in a better situation financially because of poor city management?

The City of Cincinnati owns French Park, which is wholly inside the limits of Amberly Village. 

 

Just looking at the map and not doing any calculations, it looks like French Park is at least 10% of the land area of Amberly Village.  Maybe 20%

I think places like Columbia Township are ridiculous.  The various parts should be annexed to Cincinnati or other adj. municipalities. It already shares some benefits of village of Fairfax and a Fire/EMS district with Newtown I think.

^ Norwood is bankrupt

 

Yes, but there's a lot of growth occurring in Norwood. Is it safe to say that they aren't in a better situation financially because of poor city management?

 

 

The Z28/Trans Am factory fed that separate government for so long that it justified the city's continued existence and shielded it from annexation.

The City of Cincinnati owns French Park, which is wholly inside the limits of Amberly Village. 

 

Just looking at the map and not doing any calculations, it looks like French Park is at least 10% of the land area of Amberly Village.  Maybe 20%

 

It's such a bizarre situation when one city owns land that's inside another city. Like, could Cincinnati Police respond to an incident in French Park or would they be out of their jurisdiction, so Amberly police would have to respond?

That sounds like something out of an episode of the Dukes of Hazzard. Like Roscoe, the Hatcahpee County Sheriff and the one from Chochtaw County get in a argument when they all show up.

I did the math.  French Park is 1/8 of the total land in Amberley Village.  And they are in the CPS school system.  The village has a $ 7 million annual budget of which $3m goes to police.  They have just over 1,000 families in the whole village. Very very few businesses.

That sounds like something out of an episode of the Dukes of Hazzard. Like Roscoe, the Hatcahpee County Sheriff and the one from Chochtaw County get in a argument when they all show up.

 

On that show, the "county line" was a character as much as Cooter or any of the others.  They'd be evading Boss Hogg's goons somewhere in the North Hollywood hills when suddenly the nebulous county line would rear its ugly, shapeless face once again.  The General Lee would narrowly escape turning into a pumpkin by doing a 180 at the last possible moment. 

 

 

It's such a bizarre situation when one city owns land that's inside another city. Like, could Cincinnati Police respond to an incident in French Park or would they be out of their jurisdiction, so Amberly police would have to respond?

 

Cincinnati Police don't have jurisdiction over land outside of the city. In this case, the City is just another property owner.

 

The City of Loveland owns land in Symmes Township. Loveland tried to enforce their own zoning ordinance on that land, and ended up losing to Symmes Township, which has zoning jurisdiction. It's not uncommon for cities to own land outside of their boundaries. Madeira's city hall is in Columbia Township. Wyoming's rec center is in Woodlawn. Part of Mt. Airy Forest, a Cincinnati Park, is in Green Township. French Park is in Amberly Village.

 

Also, different governments make agreements with each other for various services. Forest Park provides fire service in part of Springfield Township. Cincinnati Water Works sells water wholesale to Norwood and Reading, which own their own water pipelines and charge their residents. On the other hand, Cincinnati Water Works provides water service to unincorporated Hamilton County, and charges customers directly.

 

School Districts don't necessarily correspond to municipal boundaries. Part of Covedale in Green Township, as well as the City of Cheviot, are in the Cincinnati Public School District. Northwest Schools cross over into Butler County.

 

The whole thing is a tangled web. You need a good map to keep track of it all.

 

As for annexation, keep in mind that many of the smaller cities originally incorporated to PROTECT themselves from annexation. Some of them are still fiercely independent. Where can you find a store that sells firearms, for example? I don't think there are any in Cincinnati, but there's one in Norwood and one in Cheviot.

If a city owns land in a township, they should annex that land into the city. Of course when a city owns land in another city, that's not possible.

^The land has to be contiguous. Cincinnati cannot annex land that doesn't touch the existing city boundary. Also, there is a provision in the state law that allows the County Commissioners to prohibit the city from annexing land, so there has to be support by the County Commissioners.

 

It's not necessarily in the city's best interest to annex land. What if there is a liability? Maybe the land is more trouble than it's worth, such as a problem property that attracts a lot of crime, or one in a flood plain that is always flooding. Also, what if your city council is mostly on the Democratic party and the land is currently occupied by Republicans? It might just be enough to vote the democrats out of office next time. 

 

The big business that is on the border of town that has the high property value and the big payroll is what cities want. Chances are, the business will resist it, or incorporate into another town as a strategy to avoid annexation. This is the case of St. Bernard, home of the former Procter and Gamble Ivorydale Complex. Instead of becoming part of Cincinnati and paying lots of taxes, it became part of St. Bernard, which has a lower tax rate. Even so, St. Bernard, with a big industrial base and hardly any residents, enjoys premium city services. The garbage collectors will come collect your garbage cans from your back yard for you!

 

On the other hand, some of the townships play the game from the other side of the table. Green Township is trying to buy a chain of parks along the border with Cincinnati in order to prevent annexation.

 

Cincinnati hasn't annexed anything significant since the 1940's.

 

 

 

No municipalities have annexed Dayton Mall or Eastgate Mall. Columbus would never let a mall get away.

Are there any municipalities near the Eastgate Mall?

^^^ is that just a Cincinnati thing, re. annexing only adjacent land? Dayton annexed the land their airport is on but it isn't contiguous with the city.

No municipalities have annexed Dayton Mall or Eastgate Mall. Columbus would never let a mall get away.

 

Westland Mall is not in Columbus city limits and never was and is township land...not that it matters now of course.

In some states, cities need to be contiguous, so they will often annex a narrow strip of land out to another bigger section that they have annexed. Santa Barbara annexed a narrow strip under the Pacific Ocean so that they could annex their airport. Chicago also has a pretty narrow strip connecting it to O'Hare. I have no idea whether Ohio requires that as well but I don't know any examples of Ohio cities that have have non-contiguous parts.

^^^ is that just a Cincinnati thing, re. annexing only adjacent land? Dayton annexed the land their airport is on but it isn't contiguous with the city.

 

Well Cincinnati definitely couldn't annex CVG since it's in Kentucky, but theoretically it could have owned it.  It did own the Blue Ash airport, which was in Blue Ash, even though it didn't physically connect with Cincinnati.  The second-last piece of land was sold in 2012 and I believe the last piece was sold in 2015 or 2016. 

No municipalities have annexed Dayton Mall or Eastgate Mall. Columbus would never let a mall get away.

 

Westland Mall is not in Columbus city limits and never was and is township land...not that it matters now of course.

 

Ha, by the time Columbus got close enough the mall had started to suck.

Yeah now I'm curious how Dayton got away with annexing their airport, since it is a true exclave of the city and not connected by any narrow strip, at least according to both Wikipedia and Google Maps.

 

Come to think of it, Riverside and Trotwood are both non-contiguous cities, so I wonder if annexation rules are at the county level.

I can't find the explanation, but I believe the Dayton situation is because of a combination of a special exemption for the Dayton airport (it was land owned by Dayton but not annexed because its discontiguous, similar to Cincinnati and the Blue Ash airport) along with something in Montgomery County's ordinances about incorporating or dissolving townships.  The Trotwood/Clayton/Riverside/Huber Heights situation is because they basically "merged" their underlying townships out of existence.  So it's not unlike if all the little bits and pieces of Columbia Township became part of Madeira, I guess.