Southwest Ohio officials are asking Ohio Gov. John Kasich for $25.5 million in capital funds in the next two-year budget, and $8.2 million for renovations to arts facilities.
Culled from a list of 40 requests totaling more than $77 million, the priority projects sent to Kasich include $6 million for the next parking facility at The Banks riverfront development, $4 million for a pair of 3CDC projects in Over-the-Rhine, $3.5 million for a Port Authority project in Bond Hill and $4.5 million for renovation of Union Terminal in Queensgate.
Kasich’s budget proposals will be released early next year and are expected to include funding for community projects for the first time in half a dozen years.
In a Dec. 20 letter to Kasich released by the administration this week, the Southwest Ohio group said it prioritized projects that would spur economic growth and job creation.
The process is similar to one Kasich created for the state’s public universities, with presidents creating their own priority requests for the governor to consider.
Requests from those universities are handled separately from the community projects. The arts projects were developed by a separate Capital Arts & Culture Committee.
“It was great to have this opportunity to bring more investment to the region,” said Matt Davis, interim director of the Cincinnati USA Partnership and a member of the group that wrote the recommendations.