Northeast Ohio Regionalism Thread

[MyTwoSense]

wasnt this information already posted?  Are we cross posting again.  I'm not dissing you TCJOE just concerned that people will respond in both places and posts will confuse people.

[tcj1985]

my bad...........i didn't recall reading this elsewhere (the article was posted on the 19th by the LMJ).............sorry!!!

[punch]

This article could have gone in one of several threads (powers that be, please move as you see fit.)  Nothing really new, except the word is spreading about Cleveland +

The first half of the article is about Flint, the second half is Cleveland/NEO

Back from the dead
Oct 25th 2007 | CLEVELAND AND FLINT
From The Economist print edition

Glimmers of hope in two of America's industrial cities


FLINT, Buffalo, Dayton, Saginaw—for years these names have read like tombstones in the graveyard of America's rustbelt. But something is changing in Flint, Michigan, the symbol of industrial gloom. Like other rustbelt cities, Flint's population rose on the back of manufacturing (Flint was the birthplace of General Motors). Then came the white exodus to the suburbs and deindustrialisation, with Flint's ruin made famous in a film by Michael Moore. Flint's population is now just more than half what it was in 1960. One-third of its residents are officially poor.

But there are glints of progress, and not just because GM is building a new factory. Construction workers are beginning to transform the downtown area. There is a heated contest for mayor: Dayne Walling, a Flint-born Rhodes scholar brimming with good ideas, is challenging Don Williamson, the incumbent, in November's election. Flint is trying to chart its own course. And it is not alone. A faint spirit of change is wafting through some of the rustbelt's grimmest streets.

Scholars at the Brookings Institution, a Washington, DC, think-tank, argue that America's old industrial cities can indeed rise again. Big cities such as New York and Chicago have experienced a rebirth, thanks in part to fine mayors and a surge of immigration and new business in the 1990s. Most rustbelt cities have had a more modest revival or none at all. But urban optimists insist that the renaissance can spread: cities are the natural centres of the new knowledge economy and will only grow more appealing to young people and ageing baby-boomers, who want amenities near their homes.

Still, there is much work to be done. Key to any revival are basic improvements: a city must be safe, its rubbish collected, its schools adequate. How to make a city viable in the long term is an unresolved question. But a few places are trying to provide answers.

An early task is to address the physical problems. Some 16m people live in America's old industrial cities; they will not stay if their downtowns look abandoned. In Flint a shrinking population and high foreclosure rates (not a new trend in this town) mean you can hardly go a block without seeing a decrepit house. Blighted buildings are like cancerous cells: they spread crime and lower nearby property values, gnawing away at Flint's shrunken tax base. Many cities share this problem. In Youngstown, Ohio, the mayor plans to tear down blighted areas so he can save threatened but still viable neighbourhoods.

A small band in Flint is following a less radical but still imaginative strategy. Dan Kildee, the county treasurer, founded a land bank in 2002 that acquires abandoned buildings through foreclosure, then readies them to be sold and returned to the tax rolls. The bank, which won Harvard's innovation award in September, claims to have increased property values by more than $112m so far.

Also in Flint are LISC, part of a national non-profit group that channels grants and loans toward community work, and Uptown Developments, which is using so-called “baklava financing”—layers of private investment, loans, grants, federal and state tax credits—to build residential lofts as well as retail and office space downtown. Together, these groups are trying to make Flint liveable, a city that might lure a start-up or retain its students after graduation. Mr Williamson has helped by repaving hundreds of miles of roads. Mr Walling, if elected, plans to harness this work under a broader plan for downtown, its surrounding neighbourhoods, three local colleges and medical centres.

The physical task is serious enough. Addressing the rustbelt's structural economic problems is a much thornier question. Cleveland is slowly experiencing the physical renaissance sought in Flint, with new museums, a university building designed by Frank Gehry, a plan to reclaim the lakefront and another to improve transport between downtown and a hub of universities and hospitals. But to tackle its larger economic woes, the city is tying its fate to the rest of north-east Ohio.

Making use of the hinterland
A more regional approach can benefit not only inner cities, but their surroundings as well. For decades cities and suburbs have competed for jobs, residents and state and federal aid to ill effect. To change this, the Fund for Economic Future, an alliance of foundations in north-east Ohio, worked with civic and business leaders from 16 counties to launch a regional scheme in March. The plan includes supporting companies that build on local strengths, such as Cleveland's universities and medical centres (the Cleveland Clinic is America's leading hospital for cardiac care), and improving workforce training for high-tech manufacturing, health care and other understaffed sectors.

The Fund is also exploring ways for the region's various governments (754 in all) to share revenue and rationalise services. Tax-sharing schemes have helped other struggling cities, including Dayton, Ohio and Rochester, New York. Cleveland and some surrounding towns have already agreed to split taxes from businesses that move within the area; in exchange, Cleveland is providing water services.

These schemes to revive Flint, Cleveland and cities like them are making progress, but it is slow and uneven. Improvements in Cleveland in the 1990s were then threatened by recession, and the subprime crisis has not helped. Jennifer Vey of Brookings argues that local efforts could be bolstered by state support, which has been meagre. She points to Pennsylvania as a state with a strong urban agenda—Pennsylvania has the advantage of a governor, Ed Rendell, who was mayor of Philadelphia.

Even the most avid urban optimist does not expect these cities, having declined for decades, to recover overnight. Flint's home prices dropped by a startling 21% so far this year. On a recent afternoon in Cleveland, a “Believe in Cleveland” banner was matched by a nearby beggar with a sign that just read “Hungry”. But there are hints of progress where there was none. William McMickens, a cab driver and son of a factory worker in Cleveland, pointed to construction along Euclid Avenue: “When this is done, the whole city is going to change.” In these cities, long left for dead, a hard hat is a sign of hope.

[musky]

Forgot to post this.

From the Greater Cleveland Partnership:

Economic Development Collaboration Funds Research of Fragmented Government in Northeast Ohio

Cleveland - September 26, 2007 - The Fund for Our Economic Future voted today to assist in paying for a research project that will assess the costs and benefits of Northeast Ohio's fragmented governance structure.

The Fund, which unites philanthropy to support regional economic development, will contribute as much as $100,000 to the study, which will measure the costs of government to the typical citizen of Northeast Ohio compared to analogous regions with fewer governments per capita or more substantive forms of government collaboration.

"This study is a proactive effort to bring facts to a sometimes emotional debate. With no preconceived notions, we hope to learn the costs and benefits of having many local governments," said Brad Whitehead, president of the Fund. "We hope the study's findings will provide the region with guidance on how best to proceed to maximize government efficiency and effectiveness in Northeast Ohio."

Increasing government efficiency is one of the four focus areas of the region's economic action plan, Advance Northeast Ohio. The Fund is working with partners in the public and private sectors to implement the plan.

The fragmented government study is expected to cost $175,000, with additional funds being used for communication and citizen engagement. Other funders of the study include the Youngstown-Warren Regional Chamber, the Greater Cleveland Partnership, and the Samuel H. and Maria Miller Foundation. Pending funders include the George Gund Foundation.

The Fund and its partners in the study intend to retain the Center for Governmental Research, Inc. (CGR) of Rochester, NY, which has conducted several similar studies in other regions. CGR will research the costs of government in the four Metropolitan Statistical Areas in Northeast Ohio: Akron, Canton, Cleveland and Youngstown. The findings will be compared with costs of government in communities outside of Northeast Ohio.

"Taking an objective look at the structure and cost of local governments in the region will provide a fact-based starting point for identifying opportunities to improve how local government services are provided in Northeast Ohio," said Charles Zettek Jr., CGR's director of local government management services.

The research is the second recent study the Fund has supported regarding local governments. The first, led by the Northeast Ohio Mayors and City Managers Association, is exploring regional revenue sharing and shared land use practices.

"We are very encouraged by the support the revenue sharing study has received among public officials and look forward to the outcomes of both studies, as they look at two very important but separate issues facing the region's local governments," Whitehead said.

[E Rocc]

From the Bedford Times Register

November 1, 2007
by Emily Canning-Dean
Reporter
If Walton Hills decides to accept fire service from Bedford and Maple Heights, the two cities are prepared.

At a special meeting Oct. 29, Bedford Council approved legislation to enter into a fire and rescue service agreement with Maple Heights.

Maple Heights Council approved the same legislation Oct. 17.

The first part of the legislation finalized the details of the two cities
splitting the responsibilities of fire and rescue service for Walton Hills in case the village decides to make the two cities its fire service provider.

Bedford Fire Chief Dave Nagy said Maple Heights would first be reimbursed by the village for dispatch
and fire inspector service. After that is paid, the cities would be paid equally for service.

Officials from Oakwood, which along with Maple Heights has provided
Walton Hills with fire service for the last decade, also submitted a proposal to Walton Hills.

But even if Walton Hills decides against Bedford and Maple Heights for fire service, the new agreement means the two communities will join forces in other ways.

Under the agreement the two communities
will not be permitted to enter into fire or EMS agreements with any other communities without the agreement of the other party. The two cities also will share fire dispatch
responsibilities.

And Nagy said that, for example, Maple Heights might be the first to respond to a fire that is in Bedford, but near the Maple Heights line.

"This might sound clich, but with a fire, seconds count," Nagy said. "In the past, Maple Heights would always come if we requested them, but now they would be automatically dispatched to a fire like that."

Maple Heights Fire Chief James Castelucci said, "We are entering into this agreement to improve the quality of service we provide our communities."

Under the agreement, Castelucci said the two communities also would look at purchasing equipment together
or sharing existing equipment.

[cd-cleveland]

I was scanning the voting results and saw that Middleburg Heights and Brook Park voters approved a tri-city recreation district with Berea.  The vote of Berea City Council, I guess, meant that the decision wasn't put on the ballot there. 

It's encouraging to see some of NEO's residents acknowledging the cost savings in combining services.

[8ShadesofGray]

^ Berea approved the ballot measure in a previous ballot issue, I believe. Now all three partners have a voter mandate to roll.

[musky]

pd:

Chris Warren urges regionalism to stem decline
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
Joe Guillen
Plain Dealer Reporter

Northeast Ohio must further embrace regionalism to escape its economic doldrums, and there are many dangling opportunities on which to capitalize, said Cleveland's chief of regional development in a speech at the City Club on Tuesday.

The speaker, Chris Warren, identified specific goals, such as hammering out a regional revenue-sharing program by the end of next year, and laid out broad plans to unify the region.

"This is an ongoing journey to rebuild our city and create a thriving region," he said. "Regionalism is critical and is within our reach."

Warren touched on many topics during his half-hour speech - from construction of a Medical Mart to protection of the environment. He touted many of Mayor Frank Jackson's programs and accomplishments.

Warren keyed on four areas to help Northeast Ohio thrive:

Cleveland must be strengthened as the region's flagship city. To encourage commercial and residential development, Jackson's administration is hoping City Council will pass legislation early next year to establish tax increment financing zones in select areas, including the Warehouse District and the emerging Avenue District near the Galleria downtown.

A regional revenue-sharing program and consolidation of services among municipalities are examples of collaboration needed for economic growth. During this portion of his speech, Warren mentioned the expansion of Continental Airlines at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport and the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority's plan to develop a new site on the lakefront.

Northeast Ohio must close the gap between its unemployed population and the need for a highly skilled work force. Warren pointed to local and state programs addressing these shortages.

The region must protect its environment. Warren suggested the Ohio Department of Transportation should favor projects involving public transportation or the repair of existing infrastructure.

Local leaders say they see evidence of regionalism in action. But the concept's broad nature can be confusing to some, said Cuyahoga County Commissioner Peter Lawson Jones, who was contacted for reaction to Warren's speech.

"The problem is, when you say regionalism, if you got 10 people, they see 10 different things," he said.

Jackson, who attended the speech, said afterward that Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency's recent approval of a new Interstate 90 link in Avon, which included a tax-sharing pact between Avon and communities in Cuyahoga County, is a sign of progress.

Yet some members of NOACA have since threatened to leave the agency because they felt forced into the agreement. Jones, a member of NOACA's governing board, said the disagreement highlights the need for a regional tax-sharing strategy.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:

jguillen@plaind.com, 216-999-4675

[oengus1963]

.

[Vulpster03]

There was some kind of editorial in Crain's about regionalism. Could someone post it?

[KJP]

THIS IS HUGE

http://blog.cleveland.com/business/2008/04/mayors_group_backs_regional_ta.html

Mayors group backs regional tax sharing, land planning
Posted by Tom Breckenridge April 10, 2008 12:01PM
Categories: Economic development

Regional leaders are promoting a revolutionary plan to share tax growth and broadly control land use across 16 counties, in hopes of boosting our lagging economy.

The fledgling effort spins out of a $135,000 study by the Northeast Ohio Mayors and City Managers Association and the Fund for Our Economic Future, a philanthropy focused on the region's growth.

Hudson Mayor William Currin, head of the mayors association, said an advisory committee to the study - comprising elected leaders across the region - voted Wednesday to pursue regional solutions to lifting our economy and quality of life.

Currin said a regional sharing of tax growth - whether it's property, income or sales tax - would blunt the municipal battles to land new and relocating businesses.

The tax-break battles "lead to an inefficient and competitive environment where services are duplicated and valuable resources and funds are diminished,'' Currin said in a news release.

Currin has said the tax sharing would go hand in hand with some sort of regional consensus on where new land development should occur.

A lot more study and decision-making will be done on the controversial strategy.

Chris Thompson, spokesman for the Fund for Our Economic Future, said the steps toward regional solutions are encouraging.

"The fund believes that through collaboration and sharing, the region's governments can help the economy grow more than if they are continually competing against each other,'' Thompson said.

[KJP]

BTW, the dolts at Cleveland.com are already hating this, saying Cleveland's financial problems will spread to other suburbs. First, Cleveland doesn't have a monopoly on budgetary constraints in Northeast Ohio. In fact, their situation is better than many suburbs. And, if anything, this regional governance proposal will help reduce the outward spread of financial, safety, economic and social problems farther and farther out from Cleveland's core.

[KJP]

Hello?? Is this thing on?? I'm so disappointed in you people. This regional compact has to be one of the most important developments affecting Northeast Ohio in decades and not a single comment, either praise or critique.

Why?

[Evergrey]

KJP:  Do you think that 16 counties is perhaps over-reaching?  I am a huge proponent of regionalism... but I fear that this may be too broad in geographic scope.  Perhaps a 7 county Cleveland/Akron tax base / land use district would be more appropriate.  I fear that far-flung rural areas could have too much power.

[X]

I'll get excited about it when I see something specific come out of it.  The details is where this sort of thing will break down.

[E Rocc]

BTW, the dolts at Cleveland.com are already hating this, saying Cleveland's financial problems will spread to other suburbs. First, Cleveland doesn't have a monopoly on budgetary constraints in Northeast Ohio. In fact, their situation is better than many suburbs. And, if anything, this regional governance proposal will help reduce the outward spread of financial, safety, economic and social problems farther and farther out from Cleveland's core.

Certainly there are suburbs with worse problems than Cleveland....but I suspect they are all inner ring.  Absorbing those problems is indeed a real concern, and the naysayers have a point:  the people that elected the leaders who brought about those problems would likely have more votes than those currently in better run towns.

There's really nothing to discuss here except a proposal without specifics and the size, which seems too big.  It seems that so farregionalism works best when it remains small.  The various deals between the suburbs in the old Bedford Township come to mind.   

[MayDay]

Hello?? Is this thing on?? I'm so disappointed in you people. This regional compact has to be one of the most important developments affecting Northeast Ohio in decades and not a single comment, either praise or critique.

Why?

Just like when I post a thread of what I think are some kick-@ss photos and it sinks to the bottom, I just figure people looked at it; said "cool"; and moved on. 

[Oldmanladyluck]

This news is indeed huge.  I guess the professors at Levin weren't allowed to speak on it... but I would assume that Dr. Keating would have been an advisor, among the many other individuals there who are schooled in urban studies.  We'll know more in May, but I'm definitely excited that the advisers were looking at the Minneapolis-St. Paul model, which is a region that is both doing well and is viewed as progressive.  GREAT NEWS!!!

[3231]

Absorbing those problems is indeed a real concern, and the naysayers have a point:  the people that elected the leaders who brought about those problems would likely have more votes than those currently in better run towns.

You are greatly oversimplifying the source of the problems. The economic problems of some cities are results of decades of bad decisions, market changes, unions, etc. To imply that the last mayor of city X is responsible for its problems is a very weak argument. I think that you are trying to manipulate the facts so that regionalism looks like a poor strategy.

[tcj1985]

KJP:  Do you think that 16 counties is perhaps over-reaching?  I am a huge proponent of regionalism... but I fear that this may be too broad in geographic scope.  Perhaps a 7 county Cleveland/Akron tax base / land use district would be more appropriate.  I fear that far-flung rural areas could have too much power.

Any idea as to which 16 counties will be included?  Will it include the Youngstown, Sandusky, or Mansfield areas?

[blinker12]

This really is fantastic. It may be "just more talking" at the moment, but at least it's the right people talking. I am particularly excited to hear they are talking about more than just tax-sharing, but also *land-use planning*, which has been completely absent in this region to date (at least since the advent of the automobile).
And no, I don't think it's overreaching to include all 16 counties. There are historic and economic ties that link us to Akron, Canton, Youngstown, etc.

[E Rocc]

Absorbing those problems is indeed a real concern, and the naysayers have a point:  the people that elected the leaders who brought about those problems would likely have more votes than those currently in better run towns.

You are greatly oversimplifying the source of the problems. The economic problems of some cities are results of decades of bad decisions, market changes, unions, etc. To imply that the last mayor of city X is responsible for its problems is a very weak argument. I think that you are trying to manipulate the facts so that regionalism looks like a poor strategy.

"The people who elected the leaders" covers several generations of more than just mayors.  But when the governing philosophy has been consistent, then it's understandable that those who do not share said philosophies would be unenthusiastic about being governed by those who do.

If regionalism takes hold, it will start with associations of similar suburbs, such as the First Suburbs Coalition (sic?), etc.

[blinker12]

This hasn't been posted yet? I'm surprised.

Local leaders look to future as partners
Friday, May 16, 2008
Jim Nichols
Plain Dealer Reporter
Independence - Local-government leaders in unprecedented numbers came together Thursday to endorse plans to share their local tax dollars and surrender some autonomy for the region's greater good.

The leaders - from aging major cities, suburban boomtowns and rural hamlets across 16 counties - endorsed radical "regionalism" plans emerging from the Northeast Ohio Mayors and City Managers Association.

The 54 association members voted for further study and action toward making the concepts a reality. Only one mayor, whom participants wouldn't identify, voted no.

"This is totally historic and monumental, in my opinion," Hudson Mayor William Currin, a reform leader, said in an interview. "What have we got to lose - except our region and our children?"

The rough outlines, as the movement's leaders see them:

Regional planning bodies would get much more say in decisions about where to build new roads, highways, water and sewer lines and other such infrastructure. The spread of infrastructure opens the doors to development in outlying areas. That weakens older cities and spreads limited resources ever more thinly, like a pat of butter over a supersized slice of bread. Sprawl also destroys farmland and damages rural character and the environment, opponents say.

Part of all new money from future commercial and industrial growth - about 40 percent of new property tax and 20 percent of new income tax - would go into a regional revenue-sharing pool. That would be distributed among localities according to need. The revenue sharing would ensure that all cities and residents prosper from economic growth in the region.

The association's declared goal: to stop city-against-city competition for jobs, investment and progress and instead package Northeast Ohio into a united competitor in the global marketplace.

"We are in this together," Currin said. "Everybody contributes. And everybody benefits."

But the most controversial details remain to be worked out. Among the volatile considerations: how to divvy up the tax pool; how much planning and zoning autonomy cities, villages and townships would surrender; and how changes in tax structure could affect schools. Also, the changes would require new state laws.

The association will start lobbying state lawmakers and will ask local foundations and economic-development entities for up to $1.4 million for a second-phase study to address uncertainties. They hope to be done by summer 2009.

Northeast Ohio's economic stagnation has prompted many calls for regional cooperation over recent years. But little has materialized in a region that has separated over a century into autonomous and competitive enclaves.

This plan, however, is historically unique in that it isn't the brainchild of needy and resentful big-city mayors or academic policy wonks. Rather, it springs from leaders of prosperous suburbs - Currin, Pepper Pike Mayor Bruce Akers and Richfield Mayor Michael Lyons - and an advisory committee of officials from a swath of Ohio stretching from Lorain to Columbiana County. Urban mayors such as Cleveland's Frank Jackson, Akron's Don Plusquellic and Youngstown's Jay Williams are partners with Westlake's Dennis Clough and Stow's Karen Fritschel.

Over the last 18 months, they oversaw a $135,000 study that focused heavily on the model used by the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn. That seven-county metro region adopted a tax-sharing plan more than three decades ago. Since then, Akers said, the Twin Cities' prosperity has been the envy of Northeast Ohio.

But the history of neighbor-versus-neighbor competition here makes skepticism inevitable. A proposed interchange on Interstate 90 in Avon exposed deep competitive divisions last year between upstart suburbs and established Cuyahoga County communities that felt threatened by outlying growth.

And Macedonia Mayor Don Kuchta is among those who doubt whether collegiality will ever trump competition. He's angry that Currin and Hudson dangled jumbo economic incentives this year to lure Norandex Distribution Co. and its 75 employees from Macedonia.

"It shows you the difficulties of just two [communities] getting together and working together regionally . . . when you're dealing with turf," Kuchta said Thursday.

"I've seen people who dropped a $20 bill down the outhouse and went down after it," he added with a snicker. "So, you know, money talks."

[cd-cleveland]

There's another article in the Sun News about how Parma, Parma Heights, Brooklyn, Olmstead Falls,  Middleburg Heights, and Berea (I think) are not moving forward with the consolidation of fire services.  If someone (hint hint) can post a more complete version that isn't so jacked up, it would be well appreciated.
---

Fire district idea cools here
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Brooklyn Sun Journal

By Joe Noga jnoga@sunnews.com BROOKLYN - Elected officials here say they are skeptical of plans for a regional fire district after proponents of the project were unable to provide specific information about the proposal.

City leaders, including finance directors, council members and fire chiefs from seven suburban Cleveland communities, met last week to discuss the possibility of forming a regional fire district that would share resources in an effort to reduce costs for member cities.

The proposed district would include the communities of Brooklyn, Berea, Brook Park, Middleburg Heights, Olmsted Falls, Parma and Parma Heights.

Brooklyn Mayor Ken Patton said he believes most mayors were very skeptical of the proposal.

Patton said under the proposal, all civil service requirements will shift to the newly created regional fire district. The district will add 75 total firefighters, but will decrease by 10 the number of engines, cut three ladder See FIRE, A4

[buckeye1]

Cuyahoga money-grab feared
MATT SUMAN, Morning Journal Writer
05/16/2008

ELYRIA -- Cuyahoga County may be trying once again to eat Lorain County's lunch, and Commissioner Betty Blair is ready to slap their hands today at a regional planning meeting.

Last year, Cuyahoga County officials threatened to scuttle Avon's plans for a new interchange on Interstate 90 at Lear-Nagel Road, until Avon agreed to give Cuyahoga County a share of tax income from new development in the vicinity. Fuming Lorain County officials saw the tax grab as highway robbery.
 
Now, a plan is afoot to lump Lorain County together with Cuyahoga County in applying for federal funds for distressed areas. Local officials fear Lorain County's needs could be shoved aside, with larger Cuyahoga County gobbling up the federal dollars.

Over the past five years, applying for federal funds on its own, Lorain County has received $5 million for projects including Lorain's east side industrial park and Elyria's Bullocks Parkway.

The controversy, once again, is playing out in the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency, a regional planning body whose approval is needed for communities to get large amounts of federal dollars for roads, sewers and other infrastructure needs.

Lorain County is a member of NOACA, along with Cuyahoga, Medina, Geauga and Lake counties.

One of four proposals for a possible NOACA regional economic development plan would be for NOACA as a region to apply for federal funds for distressed areas, said Howard Maier, NOACA executive director.

A strongly worded objection to that proposal has been put together by Assistant Lorain County Administrator Ron Twining. Commissioner Blair plans to bring that objection to the NOACA executive committee meeting today.

Twining wrote in the document that ''It is true that the region's core city (Cleveland) will benefit from the regional Community Economic Development Strategy (CEDS), however, communities like Lorain, Elyria, Mentor, Brunswick and Medina will become bedroom communities to the region's core city.''

With only one plan to revive a distressed area submitted to the federal government, only the top-ranked project would be funded, Twining said.

Blair noted that Cleveland and Cuyahoga County would seem to benefit from this concept. She said a Cuyahoga county official has pushed for NOACA to apply for federal funds for distressed areas as a region. Lorain and Cuyahoga counties are the only two of the five counties in NOACA that have received the federal funds for distressed areas in the past.

''There has to be a reason to change it,'' Blair said. ''It has to be beneficial to both parties.''

Maier said it's unlikely there would be a vote at today's meeting on any of the proposals for a regional economic development plan.

During last year's controversy over the Avon interchange, Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson, Cuyahoga County Commissioner Tim Hagan and Bay Village Mayor Deborah Sutherland all agreed to vote against the interchange unless Avon agreed to share revenues from the site.

At that time, the Lorain County and Medina County commissioners talked about quitting NOACA if the organization did not remove the population-based weighted vote system from its rules. Discussion on the weighted vote is on the agenda for today's executive committee meeting.

©The Morning Journal 2008

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Cities consider pooling taxes
Brad Dicken | The Chronicle-Telegram

INDEPENDENCE — The Northeast Ohio Mayors and City Managers Association is moving ahead with a study to explore how regional tax revenue sharing could work.

The group, which has already completed a study that members say shows that the concept is a good idea, voted Thursday to figure out how to implement it.

“We’ve got to move forward,” said Pepper Pike Mayor Bruce Akers. “We can’t afford to compete with each other.”

But critics aren’t convinced that the idea is even feasible in a 16-county region that is splintered by the competing interests of individual communities, most of which are trying to lure business into their city limits.

Avon Mayor Jim Smith — whose community had to cut a revenue-sharing deal last year with surrounding communities, including Cleveland, to win approval for a new interchange off Interstate 90 — doesn’t think revenue sharing is fair.

“If it’s not a level playing field, it’s not going to work,” he said.

Bay Village, for instance, has little interest in developing business because its residents don’t want to deal with the traffic and other issues that industry and retail stores bring, Smith said. Smith asked why Avon residents, who put up with those hassles, should pay for Bay Village, which doesn’t.

“We have traffic — we should get paid,” he said.

While North Ridgeville, like Avon, will likely end up paying out more than it receives, North Ridgeville Mayor Dave Gillock said he still believes it’s the best way to improve the region’s economic fortunes.

“Not everything in life’s fair, and not everything in life’s equal, but if you’re going to have regionalism, everybody’s got to contribute,” he said.

Although exactly how a revenue-sharing plan would work is still being examined, Hudson Mayor Bill Currin said the working theory is that 40 percent of property taxes and 20 percent of income taxes from new commercial and industrial business would go into the revenue-sharing pool.

The rest would remain with the city the business moved into, he said.

Elyria Mayor Bill Grace, who feared the new Avon interchange would cripple Midway Mall and other Elyria businesses, said he supports revenue sharing because new development anywhere in the region means new money for everyone in the region. The revenue sharing wouldn’t affect existing business in communities, he said.

“It’s not a zero-sum game,” he said. “The pie will get bigger if we are able to generate more revenue.”

The study also will examine having cities work more closely on regional planning to determine how land is used. Smith also doesn’t want someone else telling Avon what it should be building and where to put it.

“We are a charter city, and we should be able to zone how we want,” he said.

The study comes at a time when the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency, a transportation planning organization that covers five counties including Lorain County, is considering getting into the economic development business.

Lorain County Commissioner Betty Blair said she’s skeptical of whether either effort is a good idea after the way Avon — and Lorain County — were treated during the debate over the new I-90 interchange.

“I don’t have a problem with the concept of revenue sharing,” she said. “I have a problem with how it was implemented at NOACA by a certain group of people over the Avon interchange. I don’t like other people telling people how to do things.”

Medina County Commissioner Steve Hambley, who has joined in Blair’s efforts to reform NOACA, said he’s not in favor of anyone outside a city or village saying how land should be zoned. He also believes actually getting a revenue-sharing plan approved by dozens of communities spread over 16 counties will be next to impossible.

“It’s going to be difficult to convince communities to sign up for this,” he said.

Contact Brad Dicken at 329-7147 or bdicken@chroniclet.com.

[jpop]

(From the Canton Repository:)

Mayors OK tax-sharing strategy
http://www.cantonrep.com/index.php?ID=412513
Friday, May 16, 2008
BY ED BALINT
REPOSITORY STAFF WRITER

INDEPENDENCE A group of Northeast Ohio mayors voted overwhelmingly Thursday to move forward with a plan that would dramatically change the way the region approaches economic development.

Initiated by the Northeast Ohio Mayors & City Managers Association, the effort promotes the sharing of new tax revenue on economic development throughout the region and better land-use planning. Creating jobs, growing the region's declining economy and reducing urban sprawl are among the goals of the Regional Economic Revenue Study, which includes 16 counties.

At a press conference Thursday, Hudson Mayor William Currin, chairman of the committee leading the effort, hailed Thursday's vote as "historic" and "monumental." More research will be done on the regional concept.

CANTON CONNECTION

Among the 55 mayors or city managers voting to proceed with the next phase were Canton Mayor William J. Healy II, who also serves on the advisory committee for the study.

For too long, communities have competed against one another for economic development projects at the expense of the region as a whole, while leading to the duplication of services and wasted resources, said Currin, who was joined at the press conference by the mayors of Pepper Pike and Richfield.

Businesses get shuffled from one community to another, Currin said. According to the group's report, the current economic development system creates a "go-it-alone, winner-take-all mentality," instead of collaborating to better compete with other states and countries.

The group, which has been studying the issue for about a year, hopes to implement a plan by mid-2009.

TAX SHARING

The study suggests a tax-sharing model similar to one used by seven counties in the Minneapolis and Saint Paul area.

Under the concept, townships, villages, cities and counties in Northeast Ohio — at this point, the 16 counties — would share commercial and industrial property taxes and income taxes generated by economic growth, so no communities would lose existing tax revenue. Income taxes would be shared only among those jurisdictions that collect income taxes.

The study group suggests that 20 percent of the income taxes on economic growth be put into a pool. Under the model, 60 percent of the property taxes on new commercial and industrial projects would be retained by the home community. Designed to reduce tax base disparities, the remaining 40 percent would go into a pool, divvied up based on the weakness or strength of a community's tax base, Currin said. Other factors also may be considered, but the formula has not been finalized.

A tax-sharing policy would most likely require state legislation, Currin said. And input will be sought from local governments, business leaders, religious leaders and advocacy groups, according to the plan.

Reach Repository writer Ed Balint at (330) 580-8315 or e-mail:

ed.balint@cantonrep.com

[audidave]

Akron and Summit County to get sleeker...

http://www.ohio.com/news/top_stories/28438709.html

Akron moves to transfer building unit

Council gets measure to merge it with Summit County agency

By Carl Chancellor
Beacon Journal staff writer

Published on Tuesday, Sep 16, 2008

Akron took the first official steps Monday to shut down its building department.

Rick Merolla, the Akron service director, presented legislation at a committee meeting before Monday night's City Council session that would allow the city to transfer its building inspection, plan review, permit issuance and code enforcement operations to Summit County.

''We won't have a building department anymore,'' Merolla told council members attending the committee meeting.

Merolla said the plan to have the Summit County Building Department take over was amenable to the city, county and, most importantly, the state, which is investigating the city building department.

The state Commerce Department has been looking into the practices of the building department because of scores of complaints.

The state is also investigating allegations of misconduct by Greg Burgoon, the city's chief building officer, and three other building department employees. Burgoon resigned in July. The other employees — Robert DeGeorge, Richard Hickman and Kim Wooley — remain on paid leave.

The four reportedly accounted for the bulk of the complaints.

Merolla said the move to merge with the county was made necessary ''in response to pending decertification action.'' It's possible that after the state finishes its investigation, it will strip the city building department of its authority.

In August, Mayor Don Plusquellic announced the merger plan, saying it would streamline government and save tax dollars.

Merolla said a merger of the two departments is a nod to ''regionalism.''

The county's building department already serves 26 jurisdictions, including Green, New Franklin and Hudson.

Merolla said that county building inspectors ''ride right through Akron now'' to do their jobs at the county office building downtown.

Merolla said the remaining ''14 to 15'' city building department employees would be absorbed into the county's department.

The ordinance, which the committee tabled to allow more time for review, calls for the transfer to be made by Sept. 30 or ''at the earliest time allowed by law.''

[jpop]

Economic Support Group Offers Collaboration Cash
Posted Thursday, February 19, 2009
http://www.wcpn.org/index.php/WCPN/news/25073/

A regional economic booster has unveiled a program offering money to local governments that come up with innovative ways to collaborate with each other. As ideastream's Rick Jackson reports - getting the cash is going to take some work.

Three grants totaling 300 thousand dollars will be awarded from the Fund For Our Economic Future’s “Efficient Gov Now” program, created to promote greater efficiency in government operations and city services.

To qualify for the cash, elected boards or councils must devise a specific program demonstrating an innovative new adaptation of governmental collaboration - one that could potentially be adopted by other cities, counties, or schools.

Judges from the Fund, which is supported by a coalition of area foundations, will choose finalists from among the applicants by May.

Those proposals will be presented to members of the public for a vote this summer on which actually deserve the money they could receive.

The Fund’s Chris Thompson was in Thursday’s meeting which introduced the concept to leadership groups.

He says there was a definite excitement about the proposition.

CHRIS THOMPSON:  “Elected officials are looking for ways to collaborate with each other, to change the way services are delivered - to make them more efficient. They like the fact that someone’s willing to put some money on the line; they are intrigued by the public having a say in the decision-making process.”

Kent State University’s Center for Public Administration will provide assistance to government leaders in developing their proposals. Other area schools will also participate.

Additional Information

http://www.futurefundneo.org/
http://www.kent.edu/cpapp/

[jpop]

Is ‘Consolidation’ a Dirty Word?
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Topics: Economy, Politics
Download MP3

A Cleveland Heights councilman's recent suggestion that his municipality consider merging with a neighboring burg met with raised eyebrows and some downright snarls. Lots of local leaders agree that merging municipalities is a non-starter...too many turf and jobs issues. But given the budgetary challenges facing our cities, should we re-think the unthinkable?

Additional Information
Beryl Rothschild Mayor, University Heights
Mark Rosentraub Professor, Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs, Cleveland State University
Chris Thompson Director of Marketing, Communications and Civic Outreach, Fund for Our Economic Future
Mark Tumeo Cleveland Heights Councilman

[327]

Would Cleveland Heights merge with University Heights?  Seems most logical since the schools are already together.  But in many ways Shaker is a better match.  An even better match would be Cleveland itself.