Federal News
This week featured NAR’s Call for Action on National Flood Insurance Program Re-Authorization. For county-by-county data on how your local area is affected, visit the FEMA website. So far, 1,220 Ohio REALTORS® have made their voices heard. NAR will be reaching out to REALTORS® again to encourage participation in the Call for Action.
To participate and make your voice heard, click here.
Congressman Warren Davidson visited the REALTORS® Center earlier this month, one of many stops he’s making while on August recess from Capitol Hill. Mr. Davidson met with members of the DABR Legislative/RPAC Committee, Executive Committee and Board of Directors, and he focused his discussion on the renewal of the National Flood Insurance Program and possible tax reform. We thank the Congressman for answering questions about these and other topics. DABR works hard to put member issues front-and-center to our national, state, and local leaders without regard to political affiliation.
State News
Contract lobbyist Neil Clark notes in his most recent weekly update that gubernatorial candidates will now start being placed on the same stage:
“Democrats seeking the party’s nomination for governor will have their first opportunity to discuss issues on the same stage next month. The first of several planned party-sponsored debates will take place at Martins Ferry High School in Belmont County on Tuesday, Sept. 12, Ohio Democratic Party (ODP) Chairman David Pepper announced Monday.
Citizens for Community Values (CCV) and Salem Media of Ohio will bring the four announced Republican candidates for governor together for a forum in October, CCV said Thursday. The forum will be held Sunday, Oct. 8, from 7-9 p.m. at Genoa Baptist Church, 7562 Lewis Center Rd., in Westerville. It will be moderated by analyst and author Frank Luntz. CCV said candidates will appear one at a time and sit down for 15-20 minutes with Luntz to explain their vision for the state, discuss how faith impacts their life and leadership, and share their views on key issues facing our state.
Nan Whaley’s gubernatorial bid received the endorsement of two Columbus City Council members Thursday at a news conference when Liz Brown and Jaiza Page praised her work as mayor of Dayton.
The following endorsements were made over the week:
– The Ohio Academy of Family Physicians endorsed Issue 2, the Drug Price Relief Act.
– U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Niles) endorsed Kathleen Clyde for secretary of state.”
Local News
A number of members volunteered their time to man the phones for DABR’s Phone-a-Friend Initiative. The phone bank raises funds for the Dayton Area REALTORS® Political Action Committee (DARPAC). These funds are used to advocate for issues important to the membership and to support candidates who champion REALTOR® causes. Thanks to the efforts of these volunteers, the Phone-A-Friend event raised over $6,000!
The City of Dayton has proposed raising various building permit fees to help speed up the process of getting building inspections completed. The proposal was completed after the City Manager’s office received feedback from the commercial real estate community. Details of the proposal include:
- Tripling the minimum fee for commercial/industrial zoning certificates
- Doubling the minimum fee for sign permits to $50 and tripling the fee for temporary use zoning permits to $75
- Increasing the fee for a commercial certificate of occupancy to $200 from $60; nearly tripling fee for residential certificate of occupancy to $100
- Increasing building permit fee schedule so that it is $35 for the first $2,000 in value of a project. For the next $98,000 in valuation, the fee is 0.01 multiplied by the project value (which changes from 0.007 multiplied by the value). For valuation in excess of $100,000, it is 0.005 multiplied by the project value, up from 0.0025.
- Flat fees would change each year, based on inflation calculations from the Consumer Price Index
In comparison, these changes still place Dayton behind Cincinnati and Cleveland in terms of cost to build within city limits. You can read the WHIO report here.
