May 1st, 2013
A new study released by GOPC finds that public investments in brownfield sites through the state Clean Ohio Revitalization Fund (CORF) generate outsized economic benefits for Ohio’s taxpayers and communities. Based on 21 CORF projects selected for diversity in their degree and type of end use, geographic location, and other characteristics, the GOPC study found the CORF generated substantial direct and indirect economic impacts.
- The 21 projects resulted in a net positive value for the state’s investment, producing $1.16 billion in one-time contributions and contributing $1.4 billion annually to the state’s Gross Domestic Product.
- Goods and services related to predevelopment alone produced a return on investment of $4.67 in new economic activity for every one dollar spent by the Program on the 21 projects.
- For every direct job created or sustained through activities tied to a remediated brownfield, more than one additional job was indirectly created or sustained by the 21 projects.
- Predevelopment and construction activities in the 21 projects created more than $360 million in household and business earnings, while ongoing project operations produce almost $500 million a year in household and business earnings annually.
- The 21 projects annually generate $55 million in state and local taxes and were responsible for an additional $42 million in one-time state and local taxes.
Since 2002, CORF has made grants totaling over $315 million to support the clean-up of 160 brownfield sites in 71 communities. Due to time and resource constraints, GOPC limited its analysis to a representative sample of 21 projects at various levels of development and success located across the state.
If all 160 CORF-funded sites experienced the same level of success and failure demonstrated in the 21 sites of the study, benefits to Ohioans would be projected at 7.6 times the above benefits, including: over $8 billion in one-time and over $10 billion in annual contributions to the state GDP; over $2.5 billion in one-time household and business earnings based on remediation and construction activities and over $3.5 billion in annual household and business earnings; and $418 million annually in state and local taxes.
“The Clean Ohio Revitalization Fund has been an incredible asset to Ohio,” said Lavea Brachman, GOPC Executive Director. “This grant program has not only protected Ohio’s environment but has served as a critical catalyst for economic development in Ohio’s communities and generated state-level return on investment. A nationally recognized program, we now have the facts to demonstrate that it reaps incredible dividends for Ohio’s taxpayers and communities.”
The study also identified a “ripple effect” throughout the state economy from the jobs created through the cleanup activities and reuse operations. Brownfield sites are scattered by the hundreds throughout the state in cities of all sizes as well as rural areas, a legacy of Ohio’s industrial past.
Click here to download the report.
Recent news featuring the report:
“Report Highlights Economic Benefits of Brownfield Redevelopment”
Ideastream – 5/3/2013
Reporter Bill Rice
“Clean Ohio program worth its cost many times over, analysis finds”
Columbus Business First - 5/1/2013
Reporter Jeff Bell
Tags: Clean Ohio Revitalization Fund, Economic benefits
Posted in Latest News | No Comments »
May 1st, 2013
Revitalizing Ohio’s Vacant Properties:
Tools & Policies to Transform Communities
October 22-23, 2013
The Westin Columbus
310 S. High Street
Columbus, Ohio, 43215
The Greater Ohio Policy Center & The Thriving Communities Institute invite you to attend Revitalizing Ohio’s Vacant Properties, a two-day interactive training and policy solutions summit that will offer hands-on techniques and strategies to address vacant and abandoned property development challenges and generate redevelopment opportunities. It is intended for local and regional leaders, land bank practitioners, nonprofit community development organizations, as well as private sector representatives.
The summit will provide opportunities for input into policy reforms that arm local leaders with new tools and that align policies with local community development needs. Sessions will feature local practitioners, financial institutions, and state and national level redevelopment experts. The Institute’s goals—training and education, coalition-building and policy advancement—are vital to productively revitalize Ohio’s communities.
For questions or sponsorship opportunities, please contact Kate Hydock of Thriving Communities Institute (khydock@wrlandconservancy.org or 216-515-8300) or Christina Burke of Greater Ohio Policy Center (cburke@greaterohio.org or 614-224-0187).
Agenda and online registration information to come.
Tags: 2013, Summit, Thriving Communities Institute, Vacant Properties
Posted in Events, Latest News, Smart Growth, Vacant and Abandoned Property | 1 Comment »
January 18th, 2013
We are proud of the accomplishments we have made in 2012. To fill you in on what’s been going on at GOPC’s office and throughout the state in the past year, below is a list of our accomplishments within our three priority policy areas: Urban Core and Neighborhood Redevelopment, Transportation and Sustainable Growth, and Regional Governance Reform. Together, redeveloping our urban centers, expanding our transportation options, and fostering regional cooperation will contribute to smarter, more sustainable growth, improving our quality of life and economic competitiveness in Ohio.
URBAN CORE & NEIGHBORHOOD REDEVELOPMENT
Raising Our Statewide Profile:
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Ohio Properties Redevelopment Institute. GOPC hosted this innovative two-day forum that promoted solutions to vacant and abandoned properties. Nearly 200 local leaders from municipalities and non-profit community development organizations across the state attended.
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Moving Ohio Forward Grant Program. The Ohio Attorney General’s office contracted with the GOPC to provide technical assistance to communities for the Moving Ohio Forward Grant Program, which supports Ohio’s communities undertaking activities to demolish abandoned and vacant residential properties.
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Panels and Keynotes. GOPC presented on urban revitalization issues over 20 times to a variety of audiences including Ohio code enforcement officers, Cincinnati’s Foreclosure Group, Cleveland’s Vacant and Abandoned Property Action Council (VAPAC), and Heritage Ohio workshop attendees.
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In the Media. In 2012, GOPC was quoted or cited over 50 times in Ohio’s major newspapers and other publications around the country. In one article about vacant properties, The Columbus Dispatch relied heavily on data and graphs produced by GOPC.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Budget, Economic Development, Latest News, Legislation and Testimony, Regionalism, Smart Growth, Transit, Vacant and Abandoned Property | 1 Comment »
December 27th, 2012
By Lavea Brachman, Executive Director, Greater Ohio Policy Center
With the aftermath of the election barely behind us and the so-called “fiscal cliff” looming, political polarization seems unabated. But beneath the surface and beyond the drama of the national election in “battleground Ohio,” Ohio is less divided in ways that matter to economic progress. As a bipartisan state policy organization, we are privileged to observe the similarities of governing and good policies among policymakers of both parties.
First, the urban-rural divide characterizing Ohio for decades has quietly and gradually begun to fade away. Seven major regions in the state exist now, centered around cities. Rural places are increasingly economically dependent on the urban areas and their satellites. But benefits extend in both directions- for example, urban Columbus-ites enjoy the proximity of the Hocking Hills while those in the Appalachian region benefit from health care and spin off jobs from the city.
Second, for over a decade, policymakers have been turning these regions into the building blocks of the new economy. Democratic and Republican governors alike embraced the concepts found in a seminal report completed in the mid-2000’s during the Taft Administration, identifying key economic regions in the state and critical industries. A regional economic development approach was initiated under Governor Strickland with now Governor Kasich working on economic redevelopment through on-the-ground regional organizations. While implementation scenarios vary, regional economic growth efforts – corresponding loosely to metropolitan regions — are starting to take hold.
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Posted in Economic Development, Governance Reform, Innovation, Latest News, Quality of Place, Regionalism, Vacant and Abandoned Property | No Comments »
September 13th, 2012
Greater Ohio Policy Center is again collaborating with Center for Community Solutions and the Buckeye Institute, two other think tanks that span the political spectrum, renewing the call to examine the issue of tax expenditures, commonly known as “tax loopholes.” Last week, the three partners issued a Press Release once again advocating for a Joint House-Senate Tax Expenditure Review Committee to examine and vet tax expenditures and subject these loopholes to “sunset revisions,” which would allow certain tax expenditures to expire after several years unless re-enacted by the General Assembly and approved by the Governor.
“In the absence of guidelines for demonstrating effectiveness, and a schedule for periodic evaluation, these cannot be considered good public policy”, the three groups said in their Press Release.
This unique tripartite partnership began during last year’s debate over Ohio’s 2012-2013 budget, when the groups joined together to propose ways that Ohio policymakers could address the issue of tax expenditures. This partnership attracted extensive state and national attention and spurred the highly successful “Across the Spectrum” conference, raising the level of public discourse by facilitating thoughtful discussions that avoided partisan platitudes and instead explored a range of policy solutions available to the state and nation.
GOPC and their partners commend Governor Kasich for his recent comments on the need to examine expenditures and the Ohio House of Representatives for convening a tax review committee last year. These policymakers have brought back into public view the importance of adopting a comprehensive process for assessing Ohio’s loopholes.
Evaluating the costs and benefits of specific expenditures will ensure a transparent and defensible decision-making process. In improving Ohio’s competitiveness and quality of life, any future expenditures—new or renewed—must have transparent criteria that ranks projects and clearly demonstrates a net benefit to tax payers.
“Our organizations often take different positions on how best to raise and allocate public resources, but we share the common goals of eliminating ineffective, counterproductive or outdated tax expenditures, and assuring that those remaining in Ohio tax law receive periodic scrutiny.”
The collaboration between Greater Ohio and their partners have already received attention by Trib Today, Salem News, the Akron Beacon Journal, and been featured on WVIZ NPR.
Posted in Budget, Economic Development, Governance Reform, Latest News | No Comments »
September 4th, 2012
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more information, contact:
Alison Goebel, Associate Director
E-mail: agoebel@greaterohio.org
Phone: 614.224.0187
September 3, 2012-COLUMBUS, Ohio – Three Ohio-based think tanks representing various public policy perspectives today are renewing a call they made last year to thoroughly re-examine Ohio’s myriad of tax expenditures, commonly known as “loopholes.”
The Buckeye Institute for Public Policy Solutions, The Center for Community Solutions and The Greater Ohio Policy Center issued the following statement,
“Governor Kasich’s recent comments on the need to examine these expenditures bring back into public view the importance of Ohio’s adopting a comprehensive process for evaluating and, where appropriate, changing or terminating them. We agree with the Governor that the time to be proactive on this issue is now, and urge leaders in the General Assembly to adopt legislation before the next budget cycle.
“Our organizations often take different positions on how best to raise and allocate public resources, but we share the common goals of eliminating ineffective, counterproductive or outdated tax expenditures, and assuring that those remaining in Ohio tax law receive periodic scrutiny. Our joint proposal from last year entailed terminating a group of these tax expenditures as part of the biennial budget legislation. We maintain this should be revisited by the General Assembly during its post-election session.”
The groups concluded that,
“We stand ready to assist the Kasich Administration and the General Assembly as they tackle this issue. However we may differ on the size and scope of government, all Ohioans would benefit from a system for monitoring taxes and expenditures that is as rigorous as the biennial budget process for programmatic expenditures. Support for this idea exists across the political spectrum. The time for action is at hand.”
To view the statement in its entirety please click here.
Posted in Governance Reform, Latest News | No Comments »
August 17th, 2012
Mercer Commons of Cincinnati's Over-the-Rhine neighborhood. Image from 3CDC and featured in The Architect.
An article in The Architect by Christopher Bentley cites Greater Ohio in its examination of how urban re-development is contributing to the revitalization of Ohio’s three largest cities:
Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati are rebuilding their urban cores to lure and retain young professionals. These cities are pursuing development strategies that reflect the distinct character of each place. Is it the beginning of a Rust Belt rebound?
Click here to read the full article
Greater Ohio is currently producing a report that will further evaluate demographic trends for Ohio’s eight largest cities and offer recommendations for state level policy to further attract and retain Generation Y and Baby Boomers in these cities. Click here to learn more about this report and the research leading up to it.
Posted in Latest News | No Comments »
July 18th, 2012
The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) is currently writing its long-term transportation plan called Access Ohio 2040. You can participate in their stakeholder engagement process by going to this link and clicking “Take the Access Ohio Survey.” Let them know your priorities for transportation in Ohio!
At Greater Ohio, we support investing in fix-it-first strategies for Ohio’s existing transportation infrastructure and finding more sustainable funding sources for our public transit systems.
By increasing our state’s transportation options with increased bus, rail, pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure, we can reduce our dependency on and need for new and expanded roads. Not only will a comprehensive transportation system limit the cost of infrastructure to taxpayers in the long term, but also decrease traffic congestion, fossil fuel consumption, and health issues related to inactivity. Building more robust public transportation systems will also help create jobs and boost economic development in the state, because people and businesses want to locate in areas that are accessible by more means than just cars. As the price of fossil fuels continues to escalate, it’s time that as a state, we build a more sustainable system of transportation.
You can help make a difference for the future of transportation in Ohio by taking this survey and letting ODOT know your priorities for transportation in Ohio.
Tags: Access Ohio, Access Ohio 2040, fix-it-first, ODOT, Ohio Department of Transportation, transportation
Posted in Infrastructure, Latest News, Smart Growth, Transit | No Comments »
July 10th, 2012
By Smart Growth America
The twelve counties that make up Northeast Ohio are home to a community that prides itself on its public art, theaters, parks and hiking trails, and home-grown businesses. Now, a new vanguard of engaged residents are working with a local organization to make Northeast Ohio even better.
The first step in this process is to examine what’s working in Northeast Ohio’s communities, and a new survey from the Northeast Ohio Sustainable Communities Consortium (NEOSCC) does just that. NEOSCC released its Conditions & Trends platform on Tuesday, during the Consortium’s monthly meeting in Youngstown. The extensive inventory of Northeast Ohio’s assets, challenges and year-over-year trends provides a comprehensive assessment of how the region could improve.
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Tags: Conditions and Trends Platform, DOT, EPA, HUD, NEOSCC, Northeast Ohio Sustainable Communities Consortium, Partnership for Sustainable Communities, SGA, Smart Growth America, Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant
Posted in Guest Post, Latest News, Regionalism, Smart Growth | No Comments »
June 13th, 2012
On Monday, Governor Kasich signed House Bill 487—also known as the Mid-Biennial Review Bill [MBR]—including a $42 million allocation for the Clean Ohio Fund. Greater Ohio would like to thank the General Assembly and Gov. Kasich for supporting the Clean Ohio Fund, which contributes to the quality of life and economic development of many Ohio communities.
The MBR, subtitled the Management Efficiency Plan (MEP), is a new effort by Gov. Kasich and the Ohio General Assembly to evaluate and refine Ohio’s $55.7 billion budget at the midpoint of the two-year budget cycle, as opposed to solely at its conclusion. The stated purpose of the MEP is to “streamline operations, reduce costs and improve delivery of services for Ohio taxpayers.” The Governor used his line-item veto authority multiple times, but he kept appropriations for Clean Ohio Fund intact.
The Clean Ohio Fund is a state fund authorized by Ohio taxpayers in 2000, and again in 2008, to support brownfield revitalization, farmland preservation, green space conservation, and recreational trails. The allocated $42 million will be shared between Clean Ohio’s Green Space Conservation and Farmland Preservation programs. Communities can apply for the Clean Ohio funding, which requires a private match of 25-50 percent, and then applicants are scored and peer reviewed in a competitive process so that only the most qualified projects are ultimately funded. Private organizations and local communities become the owners of the projects and they are responsible for ongoing maintenance and improvement costs. Since the upfront cost of land is often prohibitive, the Clean Ohio Fund allows communities to protect land that they might not have been able to otherwise.
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Tags: Brownfield Revitalization, Clean Ohio Fund, Farmland Preservation, Green Space Conservation, HB 487, Kasich, Management Efficiency Plan, MBR, Ohio
Posted in Budget, Farmland Preservation, Latest News, Quality of Place | No Comments »
