FC Cincinnati: A school board majority's open to a stadium deal. What will it cost club?

The school board was pretty clear Monday night about what it thinks about FC Cincinnati’s latest proposal for a land swap: Not good enough.

But what is good enough? And what will it take to get from a “no” to a “yes”?

On Tuesday, four of the seven Cincinnati Public Schools Board of Education members, a majority, said they'd be willing to negotiate with FC Cincinnati on what constitutes a "fair" amount of taxes.

Here is where each member stands.

Melanie Bates

She is open to continuing negotiations with FC Cincinnati, but Bates pointed out that the school board does not necessarily have to bring any proposal to a vote.

If the two sides can’t reach a deal, that’s that.

CPS sent a letter on Monday to FC Cincinnati, outlining what it wants.

"The ball is in their court,” Bates said.

Is there a chance she’d vote in favor of anything less than a full tax payment? Yes, depending on what was offered.

“I’m not ruling out anything that may be negotiated in good faith,” she said.

Eve Bolton

She is worried about continuing a pattern of giving hefty tax cuts to developers. There has to be enough money to run the school district, Bolton said, and that can’t fall solely on the shoulders of families.

She also insists there be an agreement between West End community members and FC Cincinnati.

And, if CPS’ Stargel Stadium gets replaced, it must be replaced using local, diverse workers.

“We want the economic development,” Bolten said. “We want the neighborhood preserved and benefitting. We also want whatever is our property to be built by people who live here and work here.”

Is there a chance she’d vote in favor of anything less than a full tax payment? Yes, depending on what is negotiated.

“As long as we can say to our larger public – the many, many hundreds of thousands of people that are paying taxes – that their taxes are not being increased because someone, in the name of economic development, didn’t have to pay any.”

Ericka Copeland-Dansby

While she is concerned about tax benefits, Copeland-Dansby said the community benefits agreement would directly affect students and families.

"I'm looking for more robust conversation about that as it relates to things that are transformational to our students," she said.

Copeland-Dansby said she wants items in that agreement which would help students graduate, get to college and find careers. She named financial scholarships, work experiences and internships as possibilities.

Is there a chance she’d vote in favor of anything less than a full tax payment? Yes, depending on what we can negotiate for our community, for our families and our students.

"I like the fact that we are negotiating in good faith," Copeland-Dansby said. "I think we're in a great place to continue to talk."

Carolyn Jones

She’s open to a “good-faith conversation” with FC Cincinnati, but it’s difficult for her to say exactly what would take her from a “no” vote to a “yes.”

FC Cincinnati has been a professional partner so far, Jones said, but there are still issues with the taxes and the community agreement with the West End. The in-kind contributions FC Cincinnati has offered the school district are not the same as a tax payment.

“We want to be made whole,” Jones said. “Seventy thousand dollars compared to $2 million, that’s not even a consideration for us.”

Is there a chance she’d vote in favor of anything less than a full tax payment? Yes, but it would need to be much closer to the full amount.

Ryan Messer

The only thing giving CPS leverage right now is that the school district happens to own the land FC Cincinnati wants for its stadium. It’s a rare opportunity, Messer said, for the school district to challenge an abatement.

It’s not that Messer is against abatements on principle – he himself got one in Over-the-Rhine several years ago – but he thinks there needs to be more consideration and less “giving them out just because we can.”

"We have fixed costs to run public education in Cincinnati," Messer said. "They should pay their fair share."

Is there a chance he’d vote in favor of anything less than a full tax payment? Yes. He is open to negotiations.

Mike Moroski

If any “regular person” built a $250 million building, he or she would have to pay taxes on it. The same should hold for a soccer team, Moroski said.

“I think it’s a pretty fair line to take,” he said. “If I had a quarter of a billion dollars – which I don’t – I would have to pay my taxes.”

CPS has several levy renewals coming up, Moroski said, and it’s not fair to keep asking families to pay if the school district is not asking the same of developers.

“We just don’t feel good about that,” he said. “It’s not that we don’t want to make a deal or we don’t want to try to make this work for everyone. But that tax piece is make-or-break.”

Is there a chance he’d vote in favor of anything less than a full tax payment? No.

Lannis Timmons

He is worried about affecting and displacing residents who live in the West End.

He also wants to make sure that, along with a fair tax payment, rebuilding Stargel Stadium is placed ahead of the new FC Cincinnati stadium.

“"They don’t put a shovel in the ground to start on their construction until that (the Stargel replacement) is completed,” Timmons said.

Is there a chance he’d vote in favor of anything less than a full tax payment? Likely not. He wants the full amount.