One for the Grape Program Launched

Lake County Soil and Water Conservation (SWCD) and Ohio Wine Producers Association (OWPA) are partnering with the grape industry in Northeast Ohio to protect the unique vineyard lands of the region. Together this summer we are launching a program called One for the Grape.

One for the Grape is a locally generated and controlled fund that will be sustained by winery patron donations and supplemented by grants and federal and state programs for the purpose of vineyard land preservation in Ashtabula, Geauga and Lake counties. It will be directed by a board of local growers, vintners and winery experts, with Lake SWCD and OWPA providing technical and administrative assistance.

The fund will be used to provide compensation to vineyard owners who want to protect their land with an agricultural easement. It will also be available to purchase prime vineyard lands outright, protect them with an agricultural easement, and then sell them at a reduced value to people who want to grow grapes.

The second prong is to promote the sustainability of the industry by helping the growers and wineries to be more profitable. This includes providing cost-share for infrastructure needs such as tiling, wind machines and making a transition from Concords to wine-grape varieties.

As the fund grows, it can be used to start an incubator kitchen for growers to process value-added products such as Concord grape juice, grape jelly and vinegars. It can be used to sponsor research such as alternative methods of mulching, to help fund the planting of new vineyards for new or existing growers and as a low interest revolving loan fund.

Donations to One for the Grape are tax-deductible and may be made at participating area wineries and businesses; via mail, with checks made out and sent to Lake SWCD, 105 Main Street, Painesville 44077, or by credit card on the One for the Grape Web site: oneforthegrape.org The Lodge and Conference Center at Geneva State Park is offering special rewards for donations of $100 or more, which include a one- or two-night stay at the Lodge, private tastings and vineyard and cellar tours. More details about this special offer can be found on the One for the Grape Web site.

One for the Grape is a first step to promote the sustainability of the viticultural industry in Northeast Ohio. Having a locally controlled fund that is sustained by people who enjoy wine and the scenic beauty of our vineyards will be a successful way to address the needs of our growers and wineries and lead to a sustainable long-term viticultural industry - one that will serve the present owners into their retirement and attract younger generations to the business.

(The Development Council has been actively involved in the sustainability issue.) 

Lake Soil and Water District

Suburban Gushers
In Ohio, you can drill wells in unlikely places

Lottery shortfalls aren’t the only quirky consequence of high energy prices. Drive around the suburbs of Cleveland these days, and you’ll be surprised at what you see. Scores of natural gas wells have been popping up in parks, on golf courses and even in cemeteries. Some of the suburban towns aren’t too happy about this, but there may be nothing they can do to stop it.

Cities in Ohio lost the authority to regulate gas wells in 2004, when state lawmakers transferred that power to the Department of Natural Resources. And as prices have risen, the incentive to drill has risen with them. The impact has been greatest in the northeast corner of the state, near Cleveland, where the most geologically promising ground seems to be located. Since the state took over regulation, some 270 new wells have been approved in just six northeast Ohio counties, sometimes over the objection of local officials.

Not that it has been a bad financial deal for the local governments. Revenues from the new wells, buoyed by last year’s record-high gas prices, have provided a significant windfall for some of them. Citizens of Gates Mills, a community of 2,400 people, are expecting to save $30,000 a year in natural gas prices thanks to three new wells, which are also likely to yield hundreds of thousands of dollars for city projects down the line. Other municipalities in the area, even those traditionally opposed to the unsightly wells, are now preparing to receive them.

Still, local leaders believe they - not the state - should have the power to authorize and regulate new drilling projects. That’s why eight communities have sued to overturn the 2004 state law. Many of the towns involved in the suit, including Gates Mills, are benefiting from the gas revenues. Indeed, they may welcome the new wells. But that isn’t the point, they argue. "It’s a question of constitutionality and a question of home rule," says John Mahoney, deputy director of the Ohio Municipal League. "The state can’t just say carte blanche, ‘We’re the sole regulators.’"

The lawsuit isn’t likely to be settled for some time. Meanwhile, natural gas wells will become increasingly familiar in the public spaces of many Ohio towns. As long as gas prices stay where they are now, gushers in suburban Cleveland are likely to remain a fact of life.

Governing - April 2006

Ohio Tax Breaks Need More Scrutiny

Tax exemptions, deductions and credits affect a very substantial share of the state’s tax base, reducing it by as much as a quarter, based on estimates two years ago by the Ohio Department of Taxation. Yet though many have been in effect for decades, they receive no regular scrutiny beyond a biennial report on state revenue losses.

Policy Matters Ohio, a nonprofit research institute, examines what are known as "tax expenditures" in Exempt from Scrutiny: Tax Breaks in Ohio, a report issued this week. The report found that many of Ohio’s tax expenditures are aimed at economic development, yet we have little idea of who is getting them or whether they are providing the benefits one would demand of a grant or other outright expenditure. Some tax expenditures provide an advantage to one industry or even one company, which may disadvantage other companies or industries. And though a substantial number of tax loopholes are being phased out together with the state’s corporate franchise tax, the report notes, the General Assembly added numerous other tax breaks when it created the commercial activity tax in 2005.

The Ohio Department of Taxation estimated two years ago that tax expenditures would cost the state $6.27 billion in fiscal 2006 revenue and $7.12 billion this fiscal year. Though the major tax reform enacted in 2005 changes the value of many exemptions, such expenditures are a significant element in Ohio’s state budget, compared with actual state tax revenue of $20.8 billion in FY06. The report concludes with recommendations on how to make tax expenditures more transparent and eliminate those that are unneeded.

For more info contact: Zach Schiller, research director and author of the report, Policy Matters Ohio, 3631 Perkins Ave., Suite 4C-East, Cleveland, OH 44114, 216-361-9801, fax 216-361-9810, 
zschiller@policymattersohio.org.

To read a copy of the report, go to www.policymattersohio.org/
ExemptFromScrutiny2007.htm

CEAO 2/23/07