Finance Committee votes: council rejects planning-fees increase; several appropriations and project ordinances advanced for passage

The Budget and Finance Committee filed several reports and considered ordinance and appropriation items. The most consequential recorded vote in the transcript involved an ordinance to raise several Department of City Planning and Engagement fees (item number 4); the committee voted the ordinance down by roll call.

Why it mattered: Council members said the timing was wrong to raise fees that would increase development costs during an active “housing bridal” (policy priority to accelerate housing production). The chair and multiple council members argued a modest $60,000 revenue gain was not worth exacerbating development costs for small developers and that planning should remain funded through other budget adjustments.

Votes at a glance (as recorded in the transcript): - Item 4 — Ordinance to revise City Planning and Engagement fees: Roll call recorded in committee. Vote recorded as 0 yes, 9 no. Outcome: failed in committee.

Other items discussed or placed on for passage during the meeting (no final roll-call outcomes recorded in the transcript): - Item 1 — Sidewalk tree conflict repair report: Filed (administration recommended case-by-case assessment; implementation innovations under review). - Item 2 — Monthly finance and budget monitoring report (period ending Jan. 31, 2025): Filed; general fund revenues ahead of estimate and $19.8M of needs identified (including weather-reserve amounts). - Item 3 — Report on proposed revised Department of City Planning and Engagement fee structure: Filed; administration signaled adjustments and a needed later implementation date if changes proceed. - Item 5 — Transfer/appropriation: Move $1,294,008 from infrastructure/capital reserve back to general fund and allocate $300,000 to Camp Washington Skate Park and $994,008 to fleet replacements capital account; committee put the item on for passage (no vote recorded in transcript). - Item 6 — Donation ordinance: In-kind media-promotion donation from Urban One, Inc. (Radio One) to support CRC’s Radio 1 Spring Fling at Dunham Rec Center; placed on for passage. - Item 7 — Use of Ohio opioid distributor settlement funds: Authorization to expend $1.9M with Cincinnati Health Department for harm-reduction grants and $304,000 to Hamilton County Public Health; placed on for passage. - Item 8 — Development agreement (Oscamp Flats Limited Partnership): HOME-funded renovation of two downtown buildings into 70 senior (55+) units at 30–80% AMI with a $1.81M TIF transfer; committee placed the ordinance on for passage.

Council guidance and next steps: The committee flagged the planning-fee increase as untimely for housing production and directed the administration to pursue alternative offsets in the FY26 budget. For items placed on for passage, the administration and chair indicated they would appear on the next scheduled session for votes. For several items (notably the opioid settlement expenditures) the clerk and administration noted additional legal or auditor guidance on expenditures and eligibility would be followed.

Quotes from the meeting: "Raising fees on housing and development sends the wrong signal and I'm inclined to vote it down," the committee chair said before the roll call. Council member Seth Walsh added, "If we want to encourage development, I think now is the wrong time to do an increase in fees."