City officials and a group of Black residents agreed last week to settle a lawsuit that challenged the way Cincinnati hands out tax breaks to homeowners.
The settlement, which ends a federal court fight that began almost four years ago, allows the city’s residential tax abatement program to continue if city officials make changes to increase the participation of Black residents.
The lawsuit claimed the program made Cincinnati more segregated and Black residents poorer because it favored white homeowners who applied for tax breaks to offset the cost of repairing their properties.
The city overhauled the abatement program last year, after the lawsuit was filed, but the Black homeowners who sued the city said the new system still was discriminatory.
The settlement requires the city to expand outreach about the program in neighborhoods with large numbers of poor and Black residents, to make its website and application process more accessible, and to monitor the program for racial inequities.
When asked about the settlement, Mayor Aftab Pureval said he wants to make the abatement program as accessible and fair as possible. “Since taking office, we’ve worked to make our residential abatements more impactful and accessible to the folks who need it the most,” he said.