CLEVELAND, Ohio – While campaigning, Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne questioned whether extending a quarter-percent sales tax was necessary to pay for a new jail and repeatedly suggested it shouldn’t be pushed through without public support, but he’s apparently changed his mind.
He submitted legislation to County Council on Tuesday proposing to extend the .25% sales tax another 40 years beyond 2027, when it was set to expire, a copy obtained by cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer shows.
The extension is needed to “maintain a source of funding for the County’s General Fund and to permit the future issuance of sale tax revenue bonds and other county obligations,” the ordinance reads. The revenue generated by the sales tax is expected to pay for the new jail and possibly a new or renovated courts complex.
It would keep Cuyahoga County’s sales tax rate at 8% – the highest in the state – and would not be subject to voter approval, though it does require “public hearings” before County Council votes to approve or reject it.
The legislation is being added to council’s agenda for introduction at its regular meeting on Tuesday, along with a separate resolution to purchase Ronayne’s preferred site for the new jail in Garfield Heights for a price of $38.7 million for 72 acres.
Residents are permitted three minutes each for public comment.
Flip flopping
In a conversation with cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer’s editorial board on Monday, Ronayne had suggested that he was ambivalent about seeking the sales tax extension. At the time, a little more than 24 hours before he’d submit the legislation, he said he wasn’t sure about the jail’s funding source but acknowledged he’s received “11 different opinions about it” from council.
“At the end of the day, we’re going to have to have a conversation about what’s the consensus,” he told the editorial board.
Most of his own opinions expressed on the campaign trail, though, suggested the most important consensus he needed was from the public. He criticized former executive Armond Budish for proposing to extend the tax, which he acknowledged would be a tax increase, without public support. Though, Budish was contemplating a permanent extension, rather than setting a new expiration date.
“A jail proposal (without) public input, a sales tax hike neither vetted nor voted on, no community meetings on property tax increases - County Exec Budish needs to address all of these things as he proposes his biennial budget,” Ronayne tweeted on Oct. 14, 2021. “No more back room deals. There’s a better way. #NewCuyahoga”
A jail proposal w/o public input, a sales tax hike neither vetted nor voted on, no community meetings on property tax increases- County Exec Budish needs to address all of these things as he proposes his biennial budget. No more back room deals. There’s a better way. #NewCuyahoga
— Chris Ronayne (@chrisronayne) October 14, 2021
He continued that rhetoric throughout the campaign, in line with similar calls from his opponent, Republican Lee Weingart, who staunchly opposed any sales tax extension without taking it to the public for a vote first.
At a City Club event on March 15, 2022, Ronayne wouldn’t answer directly whether he would seek a tax extension but repeatedly assured it would be discussed with the public, “so we make a decision together.” He worried about the ramifications an extension could have on residents who are already struggling financially.
“Inflation is going up. People are hurting. We need to be real careful about a permanent sales tax on a billion-dollar spend, given the context of the climate we’re in,” Ronayne said at the time. “We need to have a conversation with the people.”
His campaign manager was later quoted in a story by Ideastream Public Media saying Ronayne, “supports a voter referendum to decide the sales tax extension to pay for the new jail proposal.” Though, the same story also notes Ronayne “stopped short of calling for a public vote.”
Eight months later, after winning the executive seat, he significantly softened his stance in response to a poll commissioned by cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer that indicated a sales tax extension wouldn’t be easily won at the ballot. About 44% of respondents said they “strongly oppose” or “somewhat oppose” extending the sales tax to pay for the jail, while 42% of the respondents said they generally support it. The remaining 14% of swing voters said they were “not sure.”
In conversations with a reporter, Ronayne wouldn’t commit to putting the sales tax question to the voters, but rather left the funding source unanswered.
“Taxpayers in our region care how their money is being spent while also believing that county government needs the resources necessary to provide critical services,” Ronayne told cleveland.com in a texted statement on Nov. 22, 2022. “As my administration works to improve Cuyahoga County’s justice system and jail, we will ensure that any requests for additional revenues is necessary, vetted and done with public discussion.”
He did not give details of what that public discussion would look like or the weight it might carry in the county’s final decision. Council must ultimately approve the extension.
On Wednesday, Ronayne indicated that all of his previous statements related mainly to the former executive’s proposed plans.
“The County Executive’s position continues to be clear - the previous toxic site selected for the jail and the permanent tax extension proposal were not right for our community,” Ronayne’s spokeswoman Mary Louise Madigan said in an emailed statement. “The Garfield site is the best location for a safe and humane jail and after diligently working with members of County Council to vet all options, a time-limited tax extension is necessary to continue to provide critical services for the residents of our county.”
Sales tax history
The additional quarter-percent sales tax was initially imposed in 2007 to pay for the construction of the Global Center for Health Innovation (then-known as the Medical Mart) and a renovation of the attached Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland. It brought the county’s total sales and use tax up to 1.25%, 1% of which is in effect permanently to support the general fund.
The remaining quarter percent was scheduled to expire in 2027, along with the debt on the Global Center. By extending it, the county is expected to generate at least $52 million in annual collections, which it can use to pay off new debt on jail and courthouse construction.
The county has not yet said how much a new jail will cost. The last estimate provided last year was around $750 million, with another $1 billion estimated for courthouse upgrades.
The county already has about $54 million in unspent American Rescue Plan Act dollars allocated in a special fund to help pay for jail and courthouse expenses, but it will likely also be tapped to make repairs in the existing facilities while new builds are underway.
This story was updated to include comment from Executive Ronayne’s office.