The Hamilton County Board of County Commissioners voted 2-1 on Aug. 1 to rescind a July 31 resolution and approve a revised lease and accompanying management agreement with the Cincinnati Bengals for Paycor Stadium that runs through June 30, 2036.

County and team attorneys exchanged revised language in the 24 hours before the special meeting, and the board approved a version of the lease the county said narrows the county’s exposure on parking and liability and tightens management reporting, budgeting and contracting requirements. "Many of these terms have turned out to be advantageous to, I think, both parties," outside counsel David Abrams said, describing late edits that address liability and parking thresholds.

The nut of the dispute was whether the county was getting an enforceable cap on potential future costs tied to stadium operations and capital projects. Board President Commissioner Driehaus said the new lease removes unlimited liabilities contained in the old agreement and imposes caps on annual and capital expenditures. "The lease that we are offering, the new lease, limits liability for this county," Driehaus said.

The revised agreement adds minimum parking thresholds for team use days, a capped obligation for the county to make up lost revenue if parking minimums are not met, and contractual indemnity provisions in specific instances, county counsel said. The management agreement accompanying the lease tightens reporting requirements and the county’s contracting and budgeting oversight for stadium operations, according to remarks at the meeting.

Marty Dunn of the Dinsmore law firm, which advised the county, and Dwayne Herring, representing the Bengals, both confirmed that parties worked through the final changes and that the Bengals had signed the final document. "We were able to revise some of the terms of the lease," Dunn said, and the county administrator reported a signed copy of the final lease was present for the board.

Commissioner Summer praised the agreement as ‘‘the people’s lease’’ and thanked county staff, counsel and outside consultants for negotiating the changes. "I think that this lease agreement is good for the people. It's good for the team, and I'm proud to be part of a new lease that will be historical," Summer said.

Commissioner Denise Reese opposed the resolution, repeatedly urging that the issue be decided by county voters and criticizing the process and scale of the financial commitments discussed in negotiations. Reese said taxpayers should have a chance to vote on a deal she called "too big, too complicated" and argued that prior commitments such as a 30% property tax rollback had been removed. "The taxpayers of Hamilton County deserve to have the final say," Reese said.

Reese also raised several finance-related points during debate: she said past proposals discussed different county contributions (she referenced $275 million and $350 million figures) and asserted state budget allocations under consideration did not include earmarked funds for the Bengals. Those figures and assertions were raised as part of Reese’s objections; the transcript does not show those figures as adopted terms of the approved lease.

The formal motion before the board rescinded the July 31 resolution and authorized the county administrator to execute the revised lease and management agreement between the Board of County Commissioners, Hamilton County, Ohio, and the Cincinnati Bengals Inc. The motion was seconded and carried on a 2-1 roll call vote (Commissioner Driehaus: yes; Commissioner Summer: yes; Commissioner Reese: no). After the vote, the administrator was authorized to execute the signed lease.

Next steps referenced during the meeting included final execution of the lease by the county administrator. Commissioner Reese noted the team also expects an internal approval process and said the Bengals would seek votes from NFL owners; that point was stated as her observation during debate, not as a county-requirement stated elsewhere in the record.

The meeting lasted roughly 25 minutes on the single agenda item; no additional agenda items were considered at the special meeting.