Ohio Moves to Encourage Historic Preservation

Oh, this is wonderful news!  On Monday, the Ohio Department of Development announced a new program to assist businesses and homeowners restore their historic buildings. The new Historic Preservation Tax Credit will provide credit for up to 25% of qualifying rehabilitation expenditures (like restoring roofing, windows or siding) in accordance with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation.

“One of the most important principles in economic development is to build upon the assets and strengths we already have, and the Historic Preservation Tax Credit Program is another tool that demonstrates our commitment to preserve the physical assets in our local communities,” said Lt. Governor Fisher. 

Ohio already ranks first in the nation for the use of federal historic preservation tax credits. But while the federal credits are only available for commercial or rental properties, this state credit program appears to also provide funding for residential properties. That could prove to be incredibly useful for homeowners who wouldn’t otherwise have the money for a historically-accurate restoration.

This is really exciting. Cincinnati, and in particular Over-the-Rhine, has so many incredible historic buildings. I love to just wander the neighborhood looking up at those old buildings. I don’t know much about architecture, but I know those beautiful buildings contain so much wonderful history. It’s nice to know that we now have another tool to help keep them around.

Cranley, Portune discuss SORTA

This morning on Newsmakers with Dan Hurley, Councilman John Cranley and Hamilton County Commission President Todd Portune discussed this week’s rejection of a far increase for Metro.  They also talked at length about the need to completely restructure how our regional transit system works.  

The problem with current funding, they say, is that suburban jurisdictions pay far less than their fair share.  To really maximize the usefulness of the system, it’s obvious that a reformed system will have to include more cross-town routes and loops that don’t necessarily go all the way through Government Square.  If suburban jurisdictions are going to see the value in transit and put some money into it, we have to make a system that actually serves them.

We can probably all agree that as important as the streetcar will be for economic development in the city core, a comprehensive regional transit system will have an even greater impact on the whole region.

If you missed the program, it should be up on the Newsmakers website later. The second half of the show was about a really interesting study of Cincinnati’s scenic hillside views.