Yo Yo Yo: Cincinnati Streetcar Will Only Lose $5 to $10 Million a Year

Thankfully there are no other serious financial obligations the city has (ha!)...

• Even the most ardent proponents of the Streetcar acknowledge that it is not a worthwhile undertaking if it does not eventually extend up to Clifton.   
• But it has taken six years to get where we are, and it's another two years before we get the first 3.4-mile loop completed (if ever [we think never]).
• But remember, the state legislature has outlawed further State expenditures on the boondoggle, and Governor Kasich eliminated $52 million in state funds.
• Our two Congressmen, Steve Chabot and Lt. Col. Dr. Wenstrup, have foresworn providing any further federal funds for the project.
• In short, other than a massive increase in the City's earnings tax or the bonded indebtedness, resulting in a property tax increase, the Streetcar can't possibly extend up the Vine Street hill.  It's not going to happen in the lifetime of anyone reading this story.
• And in case you have not noticed, the City is flat broke, deeply in debt and crumbling from within.  We are not maintaining our streets and public buildings.
• The Streetcar will generate an annual operating deficit between $5 million and $10 million, further straining monies desperately needed for police, fire and trash collection. 

As COAST has said for years, the Streetcar will be a constant source of surprises, all of them negative.  Most of the surprises will be fiscal; some will be operational