CINCINNATI — It's the first time funds are being disbursed from the sale of the Cincinnati Southern Railway, after residents voted to sell it in November.
The City of Cincinnati announced its budget for fiscal year 2026 into 2027 — including a breakdown of where the $56 million gained from interest in the CSR trust will be spent.
Cincinnatians voted to sell the railway to Norfolk Southern in November.
The $1.6 billion the city received for the railway was put into a trust fund, with disbursements being paid from it for improving existing infrastructure within the city.
Despite market turbulence in recent months, the trust fund still generated a return. Even with the first distributions to the city, the original principal from the sale remains untouched, said Timothy Bayer, Vice President of UBS, which manages the railway trust.
The money is spread out among projects. A majority of it, 51.4%, will be spent in neighborhoods with a median income below $50,000.
From there, the city plans to spend $18.35 on street rehabilitation projects — the most of any other line item funded by the CSR account, or roughly one-third of the total $56 million.
In the budget, other major expenditures include a $2 million overhaul of Victory Parkway near Eden Park, the State-to-Central Complete Street Project which will get $6.7 million and upgrades to the Dunham Recreation Center in Westwood that total $2.38 million.
See a full list of how the city plans to spend the Cincinnati Southern Railway funds below:
The budget also shows $4 million going to the city's fleet garage facility, a location WCPO has reported on for years.
"Workers were working in unacceptable conditions, working in the cold, in the snow, and did not have a facility that let them maintain the trucks," Councilmember Jeff Cramerding said about the fleet facility. "It's a big project. And the sale of the railway really moves that up."
The budget, as it was presented Friday, is not yet set in stone; a full presentation will happen at a Budget and Finance Committee meeting on Tuesday, May 27.
Council will then vote on the full budget in the month of June.
