CIC Overview
The Greater Cincinnati Community Improvement Corporation (CIC) is non-profit corporation organized to promote, encourage, and facilitate the economic and civic development within Hamilton County. The provisions of Chapter 1724 of the Ohio Revised Code govern the CIC,
please click here to view the code. The Greater Cincinnati CIC is currently involved in the following:
- Serve as an approving Authority for the issuance of development bonds.
- Represent Hamilton County in an agency role regarding the sale of County owned property.
- Develops and oversees an RFP process for the redevelopment of surplus County owned properties.
- Serving as the approving authority for Hamilton County Recovery Zone Facility Bonds.
The Greater Cincinnati Community Improvement Corporation was created in February 1961. Through a contract with Hamilton County Development Company, the CIC is staffed and housed at HCDC’s offices. CIC reviews and recommends (conduit) bond financing applications for the Board of County Commissioners (i.e. Industrial Development Bonds).
For an overview of Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding,
please click here. The CIC will be handling the Recovery Zone Facility Bonds and a full description of that program with contact information can be found below.
If you have any questions about the CIC, please contact Barry Strum at (513) 458-2212 or at
bstrum@hcdc.com.
Hamilton County Recovery Zone Facility Bonds
Hamilton County will be awarding an allocation of $22,947,000 in Recovery Zone Facility Bonds (RZFBs) in 2009 and 2010 to help stimulate the economy.
RZFBs were recently authorized under the “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.” The County is in charge of awarding the allocation to applicants that provide qualifying projects. These are not grant or loan moneys, but enable the County to issue tax-exempt bonds for the benefit of economic development and industry. The businesses that benefit from the proceeds of the bonds are responsible for repayment of the bonds, not the County or its taxpayers.
RZFBs are intended to benefit for-profit businesses and in some cases, non-profit organi-zations. RZFBs may be used to assist commercial, retail or manufacturing businesses.
Qualifying projects must be located in a “recovery zone,” which is an area with significant unemployment, poverty, general distress or home foreclosures, or alternatively, where there has been a military base closing, or where there is an empowerment zone or rural community designation. Projects must consist of depreciable property and be acquired or constructed after the date that an area has been designated as a “recovery zone.”
This borrowing opportunity is only available for 2009 and 2010. Having the ability to benefit from tax-exempt bonds provides for-profit businesses (and in some cases, non-profit organizations) with a low-cost borrowing opportunity to provide “shovel-ready” capital expenditures and, in turn, stimulate the economy through job opportunities, sales tax receipts and other important sources of revenue.
For more information, please contact David Main at 513-631-8292 or maind@hcdc.com.
