The issue surfaced after County Administrator Judi Boyko told them The Christ Hospital refused to pick up the $494,570 local match for the $2.5 million federal grant to improve the intersection of Liberty Way and Cox Road, a project that will get underway soon. She needed their approval to take the money out of the University Pointe TIF.
“Previously it was the intention and hope that a private source would have been secured,” County Administrator Judi Boyko said. “Unfortunately that did not occur.”
Commissioner Don Dixon said since Christ Hospital benefits directly from having the county install the road improvement — without helping pay the bill — the other nonprofits in the area should be treated similarly since they have made monetary contributions to help the county in the past.
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
“I think in the spirit of fairness that we should contact UC Hospital and we should contact Children’s Hospital and tell them that they have $494,570 to spend on road improvements,” Dixon said and later added TriHealth to the award, “I would make that commitment to those other three non-profits that have paid what they were supposed to pay.”
Commissioner Cindy Carpenter agreed with the idea but said she doesn’t want this to be in the form of a reimbursement for work already completed.
”I would say it is only for road improvements, if you don’t use it, you don’t use it, you don’t get cash back,” she said.
Boyko asked the commissioners to delay the awards a bit, to later in 2024 or 2025 because “I don’t have $1.5 million.” She told the Journal-News she would have to fit these awards into other obligations of the TIF.
“There are outstanding obligations to the University Pointe currently, the Liberty modification project is wrapping up, there is existing debt already applied, Freedom Point just completed construction,” she said. “I wanted to close out these existing projects before we look at available cash for futures.”
None of the hospitals could be reached for comment.
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
This isn’t the first time the commissioners have been irked with Christ Hospital over the Liberty Way revamp. In October 2021 the commissioners grudgingly agreed to a $2.5 million payment to the hospital for about 5-acres of right-of-way needed for the new ramps off interchange. The commissioners balked at spending that kind of money because often right-of-way is donated when an entity will benefit from the roadwork.
At the time, Dixon told the Journal-News the hospital isn’t being a very good neighbor, especially since it is a non-profit and therefore doesn’t pay property taxes to help pay for government services.
“It just makes sense to me that at least we shouldn’t have to buy the ground to build them a new road,” Dixon said. “That’s just the bottom line, you shouldn’t have to pay them for the ground to build them a new road that makes their operation a lot better.”
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
County Engineer Greg Wilkens secured $11.6 million in federal money to help pay for the $24 million interchange project. The total project, that includes Veterans Boulevard work and widening Liberty Way is $32.5 million. The commissioners back then peppered him questions about the Christ land purchase.
“Isn’t that about the first time that we did a major road improvement and people not only got it free, but they got a check for $2.5 million,” Commissioner T.C. Rogers asked Wilkens.
Wilkens said this was an unusually large and valuable right-of-way parcel and whatever benefit the hospital might receive from the road improvements can’t factor into the price.
“I hear you, I speak to that everyday,” Wilkens said. “Every road project we do I’m going to tell you 90% of the time the owners benefit. But that is not in the equation for what we pay.”
He told the Journal-News the hospital could have haggled over the price, but appraisers valued the property and “Christ didn’t ask for any more, they took it as valued.”
The project is kind of a sore subject all the way around. It rankles officials here that a change was even necessary, since the interchange is barely a decade old — the $40 million interchange which was paid 100% with local funds — opened in October 2009. When the interchange was first imagined the design being built now was preferred by locals, but rejected by the state because it terminates into a local road.
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
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