Cincinnati officials are preparing to spend the first investment returns from the sale of the Cincinnati Southern Railway. City Council members agree that historically disadvantaged neighborhoods should be prioritized, but disagree on how to accomplish that.
Voters approved the sale of the city-owned railway in November 2023 and the deal officially closed in March 2024. At that time, the Board of Trustees transitioned from overseeing the city’s ownership of a railway to overseeing management of the trust fund set up with the $1.6 billion sale proceeds. UBS is working as investment manager.
A year later, the Board of Trustees has agreed to send the city $56 million for fiscal year 2026, which begins July 1. That’s about double what the city would have gotten this year from leasing the railway to Norfolk Southern. Per state law, the money can only be spent to maintain or replace existing city-owned infrastructure, like roads, buildings, parks, recreation centers, and health centers…