A sales tax approved last week by the Hamilton County Commission will face some resistance, local Republicans say.
Hamilton County Republican Party Chair Alex Triantafilou today tweeted that the party will hold a news conference to discuss a petition effort to repeal the .25 percent tax the county’s three Democratic commission members unanimously approved Oct. 15.
That tax is a replacement for a sales tax voters approved in 2014 to renovate Union Terminal that expires in April next year. Commission members and Hamilton County Administrator Jeff Aluotto say the tax is needed to bridge a $20 million budget gap the county faces due to dwindling state contributions, increasing expenses and other dynamics.
Because the tax replaces the expiring renovation tax, the county’s sales tax rate will stay steady at 7 percent. The tax costs anyone buying tax-eligible items in the county 25 cents per $100 spent.
“We’ve been treading water here for a while in Hamilton County,” Hamilton County Commission President Denise Driehaus said just prior to voting for the tax. “From my point of view, it’s time to sink or swim — and we’re going to swim. We’ve closed buildings, we’ve reduced staff. We’re on furloughs and hiring freezes. We’ve had additional challenges in recent years with cuts to the state’s funding. And we’ve had an increase in need related to the opioid epidemic.”
Critics, however, have decried what they call a tax increase that voters didn’t get to weigh in on. Ohio law allows commission members to approve sales tax increases.
“When the voters approved a new tax to fix the Museum Center, they were told it would end in five years,” Triantafilou tweeted Oct. 17. “They were duped. How can we believe our politicians next time they tell us a new tax will end? How could this county come through the Great Recession without stunts like this?”
Tax opponents will need 33,969 signatures in a petition effort to land the issue on the ballot next year. A move last year to boost the county’s sales tax by .2 percent met with strong resistance from conservatives, who mounted a petition drive to repeal the hike. County commissioners rescinded the proposed increase.
The county’s local sales tax is 1.25 percent, but only .5 goes to the county’s operating budget due to the two stadium deals and other issues. Meanwhile, Cuyahoga County’s sales tax rate is 2.25 percent, and 1.2 percent of that goes to the county’s operating fund. Franklin County’s local sales tax is also 1.25 percent, and it dedicates it all to its operating fund. Just to the north, Warren County dedicates all of its 1.25 percent to operations as well.
This article appears in Oct 16-29, 2019.