CBA Watch: Cleveland’s 33 CBAs — Why Reporting and Enforcement Matter
WHAT EXISTS
Cleveland’s Community Benefits Ordinance took effect in September 2023 and established a legal framework for how community benefits agreements are applied to development projects using public resources.
The City currently reports 33 executed Community Benefits Agreements between September 2023 and June 2025, more than $959 million in projected project investment, more than $510 million in projected hard construction costs, more than $156 million in projected City financial assistance and more than $147 million in projected contracting opportunities for certified firms.
WHY IT MATTERS
The numbers are significant, but the structure may be even more important. Cleveland’s framework creates expectations around public reporting of contracting and workforce data.
Negotiating the benefit is only half the work. Measuring and enforcing it is the other half.
Who promised what?
What measurable target was attached to the promise?
When is progress reported?
Who verifies the numbers?
What happens when commitments are missed?
CBA VS. CBO
A Community Benefits Agreement is generally a project-specific agreement that defines commitments connected to a particular development. A Community Benefits Ordinance creates a broader public-policy framework for when or how community-benefit requirements apply. Cleveland is useful because it shows how project agreements and a formal city framework can work together.
THE RRCBA CONNECTION
This lesson maps directly onto issues RRCBA has already identified in its own planning. RRCBA’s Executive Overview lists CBA enforcement, evaluation metrics, committee accountability and public awareness among the areas that require sustained attention.
That means Cleveland is not only an interesting case study. It helps answer a question RRCBA has already been asking in Wichita: what system has to exist after a promise is made?
A promise is not an outcome. A measurable promise, public reporting, verification and enforcement are what turn a CBA into an accountability tool.
WHAT WE SHOULD WATCH
Which benefits are written as measurable commitments rather than broad intentions?
Is there a public reporting schedule?
Can residents see workforce, contracting and other outcome data without filing special requests?
Who is responsible for verification?
What remedies exist if commitments are missed?
YOUR MOVE
As RRCBA continues educating residents and local decision-makers about CBAs, the Cleveland example gives us something concrete to study: not only how to negotiate, but how to build the accountability structure behind the agreement.
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