Hamilton County scores A+ Bond rating

Republican commissioners stabilize fiscal situation

Under the leadership of Republicans Chris Monzel and Greg Hartmann, Hamilton County has managed to score a A+ rating from Fitch. Congratulations to this team!

New Red Light Camera Initiatives in 2011

South Euclid

Very-North-COASTer Grant McCollum in South Euclid (another Cleveland suburb) guarantees a red light camera ban will be on the ballot there in 2011, and Cleveland and Toledo drives are well underway.

East Cleveland and the City of Hamilton

            COAST also has been asked to draft initiatives for the cities of East Cleveland and Hamilton, Ohio.  If COASTers know of activists that would like to help organize in these two communities, please contact Chris Finney at Legal@gocoast.org

Lame Duck Commission tries for yet another sales tax hike

Your urgent action needed
-- Lame duck County Commission --
~ COASTers need to call TODAY
to stop yet another sales tax hike ~

 

            COAST has just learned that one last attempt is underway raise the County sales tax, and to do it before the term of liberal democrat David Pepper's term expires at the end of December.

            The urgent action of COASTers is needed NOW to stop Portune and Pepper from advancing this tax increase during the lame duck session between now and year's end.  Please call or write your Commissioner immediately indicating your opposition to this tax rip-off that already has been rejected twice by the voters:

Todd Portune              (513) 946-4401

David Pepper              (513) 946-4409

Greg Hartmann           (513) 946-4405

Please ask them not to raise the sales tax before year's end!

            In 2006, Todd Portune joined a unanimous Commission seeking to raise $333 million from a 1/4¢ sales tax increase that was put to a vote of the people that same year.  The voters rejected that increase by a 57% margin.

           In 2007, the democrats took over control of the Commission with the election of liberal democrat David Pepper and their first major act was to impose a 1/2¢ sales tax increase without a vote of the people.  This plan was designed to raise $777 million for a new jail and social services -- a Super-sized sales tax!  The legendary WeDemand coalition was formed to oppose that tax, and in 45 days, the NAACP, COAST, the Libertarian party, the Green Party, Cincinnati Progressive Action and others gathered 56,000 signatures using more than 350 volunteers to place the issue before the voters.  That fall, tax proponents spent more than $1 million (including $100,000 from David Pepper's mother) and still the tax lost by 56% of the vote.

             Now, some 30 months later, they are at it again.  Todd Portune is advancing yet another plan to secure an unvoted 1/2¢ sales tax increase, this time to pay the stadium fund deficit.  Yes, that's right, Todd Portune wants yet another tax increase for Mike Brown's pleasure palace on the riverfront.

             Apparently the Todd Portune did not get the message about voter rejection of tax-and-spend policies from the fall election.  Please call all three Commissioners explain it to them one more time.

            (We do not at this time have any indication of which way David Pepper is leaning on the issue, we just know how he has voted int he past.  Commissioner Hartmann has already stated his firm opposition.)

Boondoggle bill comes due

The Hamilton County Tax Levy Review Commission will be meeting at 138 East Court Street, 6th Floor, today, Monday, June 21 at 4:30pm: The purpose of the meeting is a public hearing to hear comment on options to address funding gaps in the "Stadium Fund" that have been presented during the past month by Commissioner Pepper, Commissioner Portune and Commissioner Hartman.

With the understanding that many things must happen to close the deficit, including help from the Reds and Bengals and some projected money beginning in 2013 from casino revenues, Hamilton County is responsible for payment on the construction bonds that were issued to build the baseball and football stadiums and other boondoggles such as the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center and Riverfront Transit Center. Defaulting on the bonds or on the baseball or football team contract is not an option as the contracts appear to be legally solid and Hamilton County does need to pay its' bond debt. Generally, and somewhat subject to negotiation, the options are:

A)  reduce, but not eliminate the "Property Tax Rollback" (PTR)  that was promised to Hamilton County homeowners in 1996. This PTR gives some money back to Hamilton County residents when they pay their semi-annual tax bill, but does not give any money back to residents of other counties that make taxable purchases in Hamilton County. Because of the PTR to Hamilton County residental homeowners, the net burden of paying the debt is somewhat spread out among our neighboring counties.

B) A 1/4% or 1/2% addition to the Hamilton County sales tax rate for a limited number of years (10 years or 5 years) to make up the deficit.

C) Eliminate the Hamilton County contribution to University Hospital beginning after the end of the current Health and Hospitalization Levy (end of 2011). This option would reduce the amount of the Health and Hospitalization assessment beginning in 2012 for all taxable business and residential properties.This option would also include a reduction of the PTR that was promised in 1996, so the net effect for residential would be that the homeowner would see less of a PTR on their tax bill, but would also pay less tax due to a lower Health and Hospitalization assessment. Business properties would benefit from a lower property tax bill because of the reduction in the Health and Hospitalization levy. This option also considers that  University Hospital might be kept somewhat whole as funding responsibilty for care shifts from local to federal dollars because of the National Health Insurance bill that was passed in congress and signed by President Obama. In theory, National Health Insurnace will cover everyone. Since funding for care of those unable to pay may become the burden of the federal government,  should local taxpayers continue to contribute to University Hospital?

All three options are being discussed by the commissioners and nothing has been decided yet.Comments are welcome. The meeting will probably last about 60-75 minutes.

The Enquirer article on the topic is here. COAST's position is as follows:

1)      First and foremost, the terrible choices we have relating to the Stadium Fund arose not just from the recession as the media and politicians keep telling is, but rather from unrealistic income expectations and massive over-spending in the Stadium Fund.

2)      This has been exacerbated by continued spending from that fund by Commissioners Portune and Pepper, money for attorneys, money for Banks development, money for the Riverfront Transit Center.

3)      In addition, general fund monies and special fund monies that have been mis-directed over the past three years could have been applied to this problem if that had not been squandered

a.       The most prominent of these is the $3 million per year excess in the Convention Center Expansion fund (Transient Occupancy Tax) overage.  Those monies going forward still have not been accounted for properly.  Why not apply them to this problem?

b.      This was squandered, among other things, on the Film Commission

4)      So, there are important lessons out community can learn about pie-in-the-sky projections from politicians and economists that just don’t pan out.  Let’s not make these mistakes again

a.       The most prominent of these is, of course, the Cincinnati Trolley, but there are more.  There are always more.

5)      The property tax rollback (PTR) was a solemn promise to the voters when the tax was enacted.  It must be kept not just as a matter of fiscal policy, but as a matter of civic integrity.

6)      Moreover, the Pepper plan to eliminate part of the PTR is simply dishonest as it provides no long-term relief to the problem; it is a Band-Aid of a fix.

7)      Any tax increase, whether eliminating the PTR or a sales tax increase should be placed before the voters as a choice.

8)      We propose that the County cut over-spending in the general fund and use that surplus to continue to fund the PTR  

Where to cut?  The County Commissioners should not have disbanded and should re-empanel the managed competition committee to ferret savings from a wasteful County bureaucracy.

After $17 million, spigot for Democrat Commissioners’ outside counsel is cut off

Will someone, anyone stop them from wasting our money, please!

More than two years ago, Prosecutor Joe Deters noted that the democrat Commissioners were wasting money on their political advisor and outside legal counsel, Tom Gableman and the firm of Vorys, Sater, Seymour & Pease.  He asked repeatedly and politely for the Commissioners to properly supervise the work of the Vorys firm, and to rein in the spending.  Because the Commissioners were also getting free political counsel from the Vorys firm, the democrat Commissioners refused.

In October of last year, at Deters’ request, 12 of 13 Judge on the Common Pleas Court signed an Order terminating the Gableman/Vorys relationship.  Over the next few weeks, the Commission held a series of illegal secret meetings that culminated in Portune and Pepper voting to hire themselves as attorneys to represent the Commission in a lawsuit against their own Common Pleas Court Judges at the Ohio Supreme Court.  This suit has eaten up hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees on both sides.

Wednesday, the Ohio Supreme ruled that the Pepper/Portune suit was filed in the wrong Court (great legal work David and Todd!) and lacked merit.  In short, the Common Pleas Court Judges were correct in terminating the Vorys relationship.

So, Messrs. Pepper and Portune, the fountain of taxpayer funding for your political consultants has been cut off.

COAST extends a hearty “Thank You” to Joe Deters for taking on this fight to cut off this waste of tax moneys!

Hartmann Directs Obamacare Dividend to Local Benefit

County Commissioner Greg Hartmann is proposing to redirect $22 million of indigent care levy funding to bail out the bankrupt stadium fund. He is the only commissioner so far who has presented a well thought out, workable plan for this, and the only one who has committed to fixing what's broken without doing further harm to peoples' budgets through tax increases. He should be applauded for his effort.

Hamilton County's indigent care levy is a leftover relic of a bygone era when we had to care for our own. Recently Congress passed Obamacare making it illegal for insurance companies to deny coverage for pre-existing conditions, requiring every american to purchase health insurance, and providing coverage for those unable to afford it. Thus there are no more uninsured people to receive indigent care, and therefore no need for an indigent care levy. The feds will be handling it from here on out.

However the 1/2 cent sales tax passed to construct two new sports stadiums has been abused by previous commissioners to fund all sorts of things the voters never intended. In addition to the two stadium boondoggles, funds were redirected to the Ft Washington Way boondoggle, part of the Freedom Center boondoggle, portions of the Riverfront Transit Center boondoggle, and The Banks boondoggle.

Now the stadium fund is approaching insolvency and would have to be bailed out with dollars from the county general fund. Those dollars are already barely funding the statutory needs of the county such as courts, sheriffs, etc. Any bailout would necessarily result in a reduction of government services.

Commissioner Todd Portune proposes to fix the deficit strictly through new taxes, while commissioner David Pepper wants to erase the red ink by eliminating the property tax rollback (an old tax cut) which he previously promised was a "deeply illegitimate act" and therefore off the table.

Greg Hartmann's proposal to use the Obamacare dividend to makeup the shortfall in the stadium fund is a responsible and logical strategy to play the political cards we have been dealt. It should be implemented.

2010-06-08 Supplement: Read Hartmann's proposal to the Tax Levy Review committee here. Local 12 coverage of same here. Enquirer Politics Extra coverage here.

Testimony of COAST before The Hamilton County Government Reform Task Force

Presented by: Christopher Paul Finney, General Counsel, COAST

Good afternoon co-chairmen O’Reilly and Cook and members of the Task Force.

Thank you for allowing me to speak, if only briefly.  My name is Christopher Paul Finney and I am here to speak on behalf of the organization COAST, the Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes.

Who is COAST?

COAST has existed for more than a decade, and has been the leading advocate in southwest Ohio for limited government and lower taxes, and challenging the abuse of power by our elected officials.  We have saved local taxpayers more than two billion dollars in tax increases and wasteful expenditures since our founding in 1999.

Your mission

I have reviewed the County’s web site and note that the mission of the Task Force is to explore:

Alternative forms of operating county government and providing the full range of public services needed by the people of Hamilton County and mandate [sic] by law are better suited to, and more efficient and economical, than existing structures…

The Task Force is then further charged with:

The task force recommendations for an alternative Hamilton County government structure shall be within the scope of those permitted by the Ohio Revised Code in Chapters 301, 302, 305 and 307.

It is a little difficult to understand what that part of the charge is supposed to mean, but since you are to “recommend” alternate forms of County Government and because the only alternate form allowed at present by the Ohio Revised Code is a County Charter, it seems pre-determined that the County Commission desires a recommendation for a County Charter from this Task Force.  That certainly is the common wisdom about why this panel was formed.

That is unfortunate and it is COAST’s hope that you will not return such recommendation to the Commission.  This is because the adoption of a County Charter – any County Charter is a classic Pandora’s Box of problems and unintended consequences.

Statutory County Government.

Current County government – and each elected official within the County – may only do those things that are expressly permitted by statute.

Under this system, the County Commission does not have legislative power.  And they have limited taxing powers.  And there are built-in checks and balances from the independent and occasionally competing elected officials.  These checks and balances tremendously benefit the citizenry.

What is the problem we are trying to address?

Let’s step back and ask ourselves for a moment – why are citizens fleeing Ohio?  Why does Ohio have one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation?  Why has Ohio been the second worst in the nation at job creation over the past decade? 

No one seriously suggests it is because our tax burden is too low, our regulatory environment too lax, or our state and local governments are too small.  Yet, this task force, and so many state and local initiatives, are aimed at expanding the size and scope of government, rather than simplifying it. 

Rather, we would ask you to explore – if your mission allows – whether it is possible that we need to limit the role of state and local government in Ohio to unleash the creative and entrepreneurial potential that the well-educated and hard-working citizens of Ohio possess.

A Charter form of County government offers no “reform.”  It will not serve to unleash potential of Hamilton County residents to address their problems.  Rather, it – by its fundamental nature – radically empowers elected officials and bureaucrats to lord over the citizenry.

Positive aspect of the review.

Before I delve into COAST’s perspectives on the misguided nature of a County Charter, let me say a few entirely positive words about what this Task Force should explore and can accomplish:

è When the current majority took control of the County Commission, they abolished what could have been and should have been the most important reform thrust in recent memory – the Managed Competition Committee.  This Committee was targeted to find savings in how we operate County government in the tens of millions of dollars – enough incidentally to close the gaps in the County general fund and stadium fund budget. You should recommend the re-empanelling of this Committee and the implementation of its recommendations with vigor.

è We think it is important that you shine the spotlight on cronyism, nepotism and other hiring and contracting practices that fail to yield the maximum return for taxpayers. We would even suggest that state legislation on this topic could be appropriate.

è We think this Task Force and the County Commission encourage the independent elected officials to undertake greater cooperation in their purchasing and operations to achieve savings and to be more innovative and creative in adopting the best practices.

è  COAST believes there is tremendous savings to be had by implementing joint operations between the various cities, village and townships in Hamilton County and with County government.  We should explore vehicles to advance this needed cooperation and voluntary consolidation.

è This Task Force could do a great service to County taxpayers and our State by identifying and demanding change in the real reason that Ohio government is terribly inefficient and wasteful:

o   Prevailing wage laws that drive up the cost of capital expenditures completely unnecessarily.

o   A structure for public salary, benefits, and mostly pensions that far exceed that available in the private marketplace, and results in the looting of state coffers by public employees.

o   Civil service laws that prevent competitive structures for hiring, firing, disciplining and promoting public employees, causing countless wasted dollars- and lost opportunities- unnecessarily.

So, there are a number of important “reforms” that are needed, and we would encourage this Task Force to aggressively explore these issues and embrace those things that would truly change the competitiveness of our region and state.

Now, here’s why we think the direction of this Task Force as set forth in The Mission Statement is misguided:

What a County Charter by its fundamental nature does.

Understand that regardless of what the County Charter says, and what structure and limitations are contained in the final document, by adopting a County Charter, we are putting in place a structure that will – short term and long term – empower politicians and bureaucrats to grow in size and scope of County government, to do so with fewer checks and balances and less accountability.  This is inevitable regardless of the claimed limits on power in the document. 

If the County adopts a Charter, by its nature, we will be:

è Creating a structure that gives new taxing powers to the County “Council,” even if the Charter – as in Cuyahoga County – expressly says no new taxing powers. This is because such provision limiting taxing powers can be much more easily amended than currently which requires an enactment of the State Legislature.

è Empowering our pandering class – the politicians – to fund trolleys, Freedom Centers, the Film Commission, the “Arts” and everything else that those “oh so much smarter than us” always advocate and for which they usually succeed in obtaining public funds.

è Giving law-making authority to the County “Council,” meaning every goofy type of regulation and social engineering we have seen from City Hall for the last three decades.  (How’s that working out, by the way?)

è Perhaps most importantly, by eliminating important independent elected offices, removing from County government the checks and balances we presently have.  For example, an independent auditor can appropriately question Commission actions. 

1.      Who at City Hall was questioning the under-funding of the pension system?  The mis-use of the Anthem funds? The wasteful use of outside counsel? An independent Prosecutor, Treasurer, Auditor – and even Coroner, give important perspectives that appointed government simply does not.

è Charter government is a massive power grab by rapacious politicians as against

1.      the people of Hamilton County,

2.      the independent elected officials that assure efficient (and largely honest) operation of County government, and

3.      49 cities, villages, and townships that make up our County.

Conclusion

So I want to conclude by saying that “refrom” is a great thing, and we should commit ourselves to constant improvement in government and business.  But whether that word is contorted to be a power grab to expand government – and thus make us less efficient – or is designed to fundamentally change the structural obstacles to Ohio and Hamilton County competitiveness is the decision before you.

COAST encourages those reforms that will reposition Ohio and southwest Ohio to be competitive for businesses and families. This Proposed County Charter will do exactly the opposite.  Thank you.

Banks failure – not a single tenant yet

            The City, County and State have spent hundreds of millions of dolalrs in public subsidy for the Banks project in Cincinnati’s Riverfront,.  However, COAST noted this little diddy (that happened not to get a mention in the pages of the Enquirer) that showed that despite the massive public subsidy for the project, not a single tenant has signed onto the project yet. 

Maybe, just maybe, the for-profit marketplace knows a thing or two that bureaucrats and politicans do not about return on investment.

Portune’s Charter plan is massive power grab

Liberal democrats Todd Portune and David Pepper have empaneled a “Reform Commission” that appears to have been charged in advance with recommending that the County adopt a County Charter with a new “County Executive,” (like a Mayor) and a “County Council” (with more members than the current 3-member Commisison).  However, more pernicious than these dramatic structural changes would be massive new “home rule” legislative and taxing powers.  The new form of government is designed to accelerate the tax, spend and regulate desires of the Commission’s majority.

COAST will be testifying in opposition to the power grab on Monday, May 17^th.

What a primary election day!

The meaning of the May 4 primary election will not be known for years to come, but it appears from COAST’s perspective to be momentus.  COAST-endorsed candidates Chris Monzel (County Commission) and Shannon Jones (Ohio Senate) won in hard-fought primary fights.  Tea Party founder Mike Wilson won a tough three-way primary for the right to oppose liberal democrat Connie Pillich in the 28^th Ohio House District, and two new COAST-endorsed State Central Committeemen won from this area – Bob McEwen and Joann Kemmerer. 

COAST would like first to thank the opposition in these races – Leslie Ghiz, Michelle Schneider, Tom Weidman and Vicki Zwissler as they advanced important messages of limited government and lower taxes in their races, despite their losses.

These local victories combine with important national events to give COAST real hope that 2010 will be fundamentally different – we might actually roll back the size and scope of government when it is all over.  In Utah, conservatives have already unseated hopeless moderate Bob Bennett.  In Pennsylvania,  Arlen Specter – already run out of the Republican Party – is behind for next Tuesday’s democrat primary election.  In Florida, Charlie Crist turned tail and ran from the Republican primary election against new-comer Mario Rubio.  And in New Jersey, Governor Chris Christie has unveiled dramatic and needed proposals to finally rein in state spending.

Now COASTers turn their eyes to the fall election when these important wins can be finalized and legislative solutions begun.

Because of massive over-spending, Stadium Fund faces deficit

There is no question that Commissioners Bob Bedinghaus, Tom Neyer and John Dowlin sold out the voters when they negotiated the Bengal’s stadium lease in September 1996. However, the Stadium Fund would not be in the fix it is today were it not for the continued spending by Commissioners Todd Portune and David Pepper from a fund that already is insolvent. Their over-spending has accelerated the day of reckoning to the middle of today’s recession, when tax revenues are depressed and the problems even more pronounced.

Since the democrats have taken control of the County Commission, and knowing that the fund was broke, Portune and Pepper have committed to $90 million in new spending on the Banks infrastructure, and Commissioners have spent more than $20 million on outside counsel. This and other mis-spending has driven a Stadium Fund deficit that requires a tax increase or a subsidy from the County’s general fund in 2011.

Perhaps even worse than the negligent financial projects of a prior commission, Portune and Pepper have committed to spending millions on future phases of the Banks project, knowing that the fund was hopelessly insolvent, thus committing County voters to a nearly inevitable tax increase.

Breaking a solemn campaign promise, David Pepper has proposed eliminating the property tax rollback that was a fundamental part of the stadium tax deal. Pepper also relies upon a new ticket tax from ticket sales at the two stadiums to close the gap, but fails to mention that these two revenue sources will not pay for the estimated $30 million annual Stadium Fund deficit. Pepper could not find a second vote for his fundamentally dishonest plan.

So, Commissioners Portune and Pepper have decided to pursue a sales tax increase to fund the Stadium Fund deficit. It is on four separate sales tax increase proposals that they are having public hearings this week and next, including two that will again bypass voters.

While Portune and Pepper are playing the same broken record that we can blame Bob Bedinghaus for the fiscal straits of the County, the reality is that Portune and Pepper have significantly worsened the deficit, and did so when they well knew the fund was insolvent.

County Commission holds hearings on yet another sales tax increase for Stadium Fund

February 10 and 17 at 9:30 AM
Apparently unable to understand the meaning of the word “no,” Commissioners Todd Portune and David Pepper will hold hearings on yet another proposed increase in the sales tax this week and next week. Again, not learning the lessons of the past, among the options on which hearings will be held is increasing the sales tax without a vote of the electorate.

The hearings will be held Wednesday, February 10 at 9:30 AM and again on Wednesday, February 17 at 9:30 AM. Both public sessions will be in the County Commission offices on the 6th floor of the County Administration Building, 138 East Court Street Cincinnati, Ohio 45202.

COASTers are encouraged to attend the meetings and testify, or call or write their Commissioners at the addresses and numbers noted below:

	Greg Hartman	David Pepper	Todd Portune
Phone:	513-946-4405	513-946-4409	513-946-4401
Fax:	513-946-4404	513-946-4407	513-946-4446
E-mail (Click)	Email Greg	Email David	Email Todd

COASTers will recall that in 2006, voters rejected a sales tax increase for a new jail. Not understanding that message, Portune and Pepper tripled the size of that tax and implemented a sales tax in2007 without a public vote. A unique coalition of the NAACP, COAST, the Green Party and the Libertarian Party united to place the issue before the voters and defeat the tax, despite more than $1 million spent by tax advocates, including $100,000 spent by David Pepper’s ultra-wealthy mommy and daddy.

The desire of Portune and Pepper for more of your tax money is congenital and can only be counterbalanced by a vocal and resolute public telling them our objections. Please speak out once again, because apparently they did not hear you the last two times.

Why Ohio and Hamilton County taxpayers are so incredibly screwed

            To put the daily waste of money into some context, COAST steps back to provide some perspective as to what taxpayers can expect over the coming 24 months on the budgetary front in the State, Hamilton County and City of Cincinnati.  It is not a pretty picture.  In fact, the tax-and-spend worst is yet to come from our state and local leaders thanks to indiscipline.

           

            In Columbus, the state is facing an $8 billion deficit during the coming biennial.  In Hamilton County, the general fund is broke, and deficits in the Stadium Fund approaching $10 million per year start next year.  In the City of Cincinnati, the City closed a $40 million deficit with a series of accounting gimmicks and by draining its reserves. Still, the City has yet to address an $800 million deficit in its pension funds.

            With the economy remaining depressed, the faint hope of increased revenues simply will not begin to make up for the huge fiscal holes that exist in each of these budgets.  And worse, during the 2009 and 2010 budget battles, lawmakers in the State, County and City have shown no courage to fundamentally restructure the way government does business to assure that the burden on taxpayers will not increase.  Indeed, both Democrats and some Republicans seem willing to once again embrace massive tax hikes to solve their budget problems.

            Unless we elect leaders willing to tackle these structural problems in government, and scale back at a very fundamental level what we expect government to do, the 2010 and 2011 fiscal solutions are limited to massive tax increases.

However, when your lawmaker tells you “we had no choice,” understand that indeed they did, and they refused to accept the alternative.

Portune, Pepper act to raise sales tax yet again

Behind the scenes at County government

            Todd Portune and David Pepper have voted again to hold public hearings to raise the County sales tax to fund the deficit they have created in the County’s stadium fund.  Commissioners attempted in 2006 and 2007 to raise the sales tax, and each time the voters rejected the cash-grab.  In 2007, Portune and Pepper passed the tax without a vote of the electorate.  Only due to the effort of a unique coalition of COAST, the Cincinnati NAACP, the Green party, the Libertarian Party, Cincinnati Progressive Action and others, was the issue placed before the voters and defeated.

Nearby Butler County already has an advantage over other surrounding counties, which any hike would amplify. Do we really want to incentivize people to take their business elsewhere?

            The hearings take place on February 10 and February 17.  The location has not yet been announced.

            In November, David Pepper showed his low character by breaking his clear promise to taxpayers not to eliminate ore reduce the property tax rollback that was a part of the stadium deal.  His fellow democrat Todd Portune surprisingly rejected that tax hike, hanging Pepper out to dry all alone. 

Portune, far from being an advocate of fiscal restraint, finally came out of the fiscal closet, openly declaring he favors an increase in the County sales tax.  Pepper, while publicly claiming to oppose s sales tax hike (does his word mean anything?), voted in January to hold public hearings on the hike, a legal prerequisite to a sales tax increase.

Insides are predicting that Portune and Pepper will compromise on some tax increase.

The third Commissioner, a Republican, Greg Hartmann has said he opposes any tax hike and instead prefers spending cuts to balance the County’s stadium fund.

City, County leaders want new metro tax to fund transit

Apparently forgetting the 69% rejection in 2002 of the County-wide 1 cent increase in the sales tax to fund an expanded county-wide bus system, and a light rail system, Todd Portune, Roxanne Qualls, and Chris Bortz are promoting a new County tax to fund SORTA and other big-government transportation plans. Maybe Bortz can use this to fund his trolley.

Photo courtesy of here.

Monzel v. Ghiz for Republican nomination to County Commission

It’s shaping up to be two Cincinnati Council members against each other vying for the Hamilton County Commission seat being vacated (thankfully) by David Pepper, who is running for State Treasurer. Both Chris Monzel and Leslie Ghiz have indicated to COASTers that they will be seeking the Republican nomination for the open Commission seat. Both have a long history as politicians and significant voting records on Cincinnati City Council on which to judge their candidacies. COAST looks forward to being part of a vibrant debate between these two seasoned politicians this spring.

Drake Levy Officially Expires

Miracle of miracles! An agency actually drops off the tax rolls

December 31 was an important milestone in Hamilton County tax-fighting history.  On that date, the Drake Center ceased to be a recipient of County tax dollars. Prior to that date, the Drake Center and its 240 patients were receiving a monthly cash subsidy of more than $1 million, $14 million annually.

In 2004, COAST General Council Chris Finney Chaired the Hamilton County Tax Levy Review Committee and Phil Heimlich was President of the Hamilton County Commission.  Together, they uncovered massive waste at Drake Center, and demonstrated that no other rehabilitation facility like Drake in the nation received a similar local tax subsidy.  That year, a 5-year levy passed over their objections.

However, in 2006, Commissiones DeWine and Heimlich courageously negotiated a sale of the Drake Center to the Health Alliance.  Part of that deal was that after the expiration of the 2004 levy, the Drake Center would be operated without tax subsidy.

When the Health Alliance management team, led by skilled executive Karen Bankston took over, they revealed that the waste at Drake Center was even worse than Finney and Heimlich had uncovered.

Now, Drake Center’s quality measures are much improved, and it actually makes money every month, instead of hemorrhaging taxpayer cash.

COAST was instrumental in fighting the tax, against all of the predictable establishment organizations supporting the wasteful tax, including the Cincinnati Enquirer, the Cincinnati Post, the Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce, the AFL-CIO, and the United Way.  Of course, all of these organizations predicted unmentionable calamity of the taxpayer subsidy of the Drake Center’s was discontinued, and their predictions were dutifully supported by a study from the University of Cincinnati’s Center for Economic Studies.

So, celebrate this one small victory for common sense, in the face of all of the establishment nay-sayers who always think higher taxes are a dandy idea.

David Pepper’s “Deeply Illegitimate Act”

David Pepper betrays his own promises,
and Hamilton County taxpayers

It is hardly unusual for politicians to lie to us about their intentions on raising our taxes – we have come to expect that.  It is extraordinary, however, for a politician to tell us in advance that such an act on their part would be nothing short of treachery. 

Commissioner David Pepper not only went back on his repeated promises not to reduce the Stadium Property Tax Rollback, but a year ago told us that this very act that he undertook – independent of fiscal considerations -- would be a “deeply illegitimate act.”  This is an important, defining issue for Hamilton County.

David Pepper told Hamilton County voters on his own blog that it did not matter the fiscal state of the Stadium Fund –“Fulfilling the PTR Promise -- Some Things are Simple” – he would firmly oppose all efforts to eliminate or reduce the Property Tax Rollback that was an integral part of the 1996 deal with the voters.

What the readers of the Enquirer will never learn – because the Enquirer refuses to tell us – is that Pepper and fellow liberal democrat Commissioner Todd Portune have made the Stadium Fund deficit infinitely worse by voting to add hundreds of millions of dollars in new spending for the Banks project since they took office – spending from an insolvent fund.

Thus, Pepper’s treachery is all the more pronounced.  He scored the amazing trifecta of duplicity by (i) promising never to reduce the rollback, (ii) voting to accelerate spending to make the deficit worse, and (iii) then voting to reduce the rollback, brazenly claiming he had no other option.  Even worse, pepper received more than $40,000 in contributions for his County Commission race from Bengals executives and attorneys to do their bidding on the Commission.

David Pepper, who voted when he first joined the Commission for the “Super-Sized Jail Tax,” without submitting it to a vote of the electorate, has shown himself unqualified for the office he currently holds.  He is utterly unworthy of the promotion to State Auditor, a post he is currently seeking.

Stadium Fiscal Fiasco Featured in New York Times

Hamilton County voters have been oppressed by the worst deal stadium deal in the nation thanks to current Bengals executives Bob Bedinghaus and Jeff Berding.  COAST has documented the torment of the taxpayers ever since.  Now the New York Times has featured the fiasco on its front page over the holidays.  Read it here – Stadium Boom Deepens Municipal Woes.

Portune & Pepper's Reverse Robin Hood Scheme

Faced with shrinking revenues, Commissioners Portune and Pepper will do anything rather than curb spending. Their latest conspiracy is a new low. The merry duo want to continue giving millionaire sports teams free or reduced rent for the stadiums, and continue underwriting private real estate moguls for the $800 million Banks waterfront apartments and luxury retail development. In order to do so, they will renege on the $5 million payment promised to Cincinnati Public Schools as part of the same deal.

Cincinnati NAACP President Christopher Smitherman highlighted that a majority of CPS students are African-American and many of them are too poor to afford to attend a game at the stadium. Pepper and Portune are, in effect, robbing the poor to payoff the rich.

Inexplicably, the School Board voted 4:3 last night to approve the scheme. Just 21 days ago, voters approved a renewal levy based on CPS' insistance that they were desperate for money. Now that they are giving it away so freely, voters can plainly see they were lied to again. Smitherman, who endorsed this past levy, says, "I do not think the School Board can justify this transaction to voters in 2010 or 2011 when they ask for another levy."