PTR goes out the window; lessons to be learned

Every so often, politicians wrestling with a large problem, usually a large capital project they want to fund, will cobble together many funding sources and include a tax increase for the average Joe somewhere in there. And when they do so, there is usually some "grand bargain," wherein the taxpayer will reap some deferred benefit or spending cuts in exchange for the short-term pain of the tax increase today.

Such was the case with the stadium tax increases in Hamilton County more than a decade ago, wherein the taxpayers were solemnly promised a rollback of property tax rates (PTR) in exchange for the sales tax hike. Well, the voters took the bait and passed the stadium sales tax.

Today, we saw the result of that grand bargain. The Hamilton County Commission again took a big bite out of the PTR to fund the mounting deficit in the stadium fund, causing that grand bargain to be breached again. And it's not like we can blame these two commissioners.

The fund was made hopelessly insolvent by Commissioners past because of a series of calamitous decisions, so that even this latest tax hike solves the deficit for only another year.

But the lesson to be learned from this experience, capped by today's vote, is that we never can believe the politicians when they tell us to accept today's pain of higher taxes in exchange for tomorrow's promise of, you name it, lower taxes, lower deficits, economic development, huge attendance numbers at their latest attraction, etc.

The reality is they lie, they all lie, and the taxpayers always lose. Don't believe them. No more grand bargains. Ever.

Dohoney Reveals Budget

Relies on One Time Revenue

Tax Increases and Cuts to Services

Paving the way for even more tax increases!

The wait is over.  Mayor Mallory's final budget has been released. Available for review below.

Among the "Biggies" in the budget is the proposal to lease the City's parking operations for thirty years.  City Manager Dohoney promises this will raise at least $40 Million up front.  Of this promised $40 Million, $21 Million will be used to plug the 2013 Deficit.

Another $11.6 Million from the "2012 General Fund carryover balance" comes from "one-time sources."  Of course, this begs the question, where will the city find that $32.6 Million for the 2014 budget?  Gee, what would we expect a newly elected City Council sitting on a four year term to do to plug that giant budget hole???

But enough about future tax increases.  Let's talk about the tax increases coming in this budget:

The budget proposes eliminating the property tax rollback, resulting in a 32% increase in City Property taxes.

Live in the City but work outside the city?  Say goodbye to the Municipal Income Tax Reciprocity.  For instance, if you live in the city but work in Blue Ash, you will be paying 3.35% in Municipal income tax.  Aren't you thrilled with the leadership of our fair city?

And how about cuts to services?

Own a business in the city or live in one of those wonderful new apartments at the Banks?  Or in any apartment building with more than 5 apartments?  Guess what?  The City won't be collecting your garbage anymore!  Guess what else? Your rent will be going up to pay for garbage collection.  But don't worry, the City expects to collect a new "solid waste collection fee" of 10% of gross revenues from the people you pay to collect your garbage.  We have to ask this: if you get paid to pick up garbage, aren't all your revenues gross? But seriously, who do you think will be paying that 10% gross revenue fee?  If you said the consumer, go to the head of the class - of course, you might just be leaving the City entirely!

Also cut:
Media Bridges funding is eliminated, as are Arts Grants and the Downtown and Neighborhood Gateways Program.

Feel like staring into the abyss yourself?  Read the whole thing here:

Cincinnati Budget 2013

This week: The battle at City Hall is joined

COAST does not seek out battles, but we do not shy from a fight either. 

And on Friday, City Manager Milton Dohoney took an act that calls for all brave citizens of the City of Cincinnati to band together, to act,  to stop the first in a series of massive tax increases to fund the voracious appetite of the democrat machine for cash.

He announced a $40+ million budget deficit, bridged in part with the elimination of the City's property tax rollback, an increase from what we believe now of the City's property tax rate of some 20%.

You will hear more in the coming days about battle plans, but for now, keep your powder dry, and man your battle stations.

The battle has been joined!

COAST Top 10 best acts of 2011

On the topic of naughty and nice, COAST also wants to celebrate the nice deeds of voters and our elected officials in 2011.  Warm "presents" of thanks for their vision and leadership:

10)  Governnor Kasich's cutting $52 million in fund for the streetcar.  Great way to start the year.

9)  Senator Shannon Jones bold legislation to prevent all state funding for the Cincinnati Streetcar boondoggle.  The legislation passed the House and Senate and was signed into law by the Governor.

8)  Commissioner Chris Monzel for his resolution modifying the MSD budget to stop ratepayers from footing the bill for sewer relocaiton costs associated witht he Streetcar project.

7)  Cincinnati City Council for preserving the property tax rollback, at least for one more year.

6)  Cincinnati voters for outlawing a trash tax by the passage of this year's Issue 47.

5)  Judge Steve Martin for stopping Laure Quinlivan in her tracks from spending tax dollars for her re-election campaign.

4)  The Cincinnati Business Courier for their dogged coverage of the Streetcar boondoggle.

3)  Ohio voters for their passage of Issue 3, our State's resounding rejection of ObamaCare.

2)  The Ohio legislature's passage of an historic repeal of the Ohio Estate Tax, and the leadership of Dan Regenold, Ron Alban and Jack Boyle that made it happen.

And the number one "gift" of thanks goes to....

drum roll please.....

1)  The thousands of activists throughout Ohio who have participated in these and other battles for limited government, COASTers, Tea Partiers, 912ers, those from Americans for Prosperity, Americans for Tax Reform, Freedom Works and dozens of other groups that are stopping the hoards of "occupiers" in Congress, our statehouses, Court Houses and City Halls across the nation from further enslaving us to their big-government agenda.

Merry Christmas everyone!

COAST's Top 10 Naughty Acts by politicians and voters in 2011

As Santa delivers presents on Christmas Day, we hope he takes into account the naughty acts by politicians and voters throughout the year. For your reading pleasure, COAST has assembled its Top 10 instances of foolish excesses of the voters and politicians in 2011:

10) The voters electing to Cincinnati City Council a liberal, left-wing, big-spending cabal led by Roxanne Qualls, and including big-spending newcomers of P.G. Sittenfeld, Chris Seelbach and Yvette Simpson. Council's more rational members, Wayne Lippert, Amy Murray, Chris Bortz, and Leslie Ghiz were sent packing.

9) The City Manager and Mayor trying for the third time to implement a trash tax. This expense is already included in your property tax and earnings tax...a little case of double dipping by Dohoney and Mallory. Not only did the Council not approve it, but the voters in November added a Charter Amendment outlawing this form of taxation.

8) The City Manager and Mayor trying for the fourth time to repeal the City's Property Tax Rollback. Tsk, tsk, tsk. This cash grab from homeowners trying desperately to avoid foreclosure in this depressed economy failed to pass Council.

7) City Council and Mayor Mallory failing for the sixth year of the Mallory mayor-ship to seriously cut spending at City Hall or implement a structurally balanced budget. As we have seen nationally and internationally, debt comes back to bite you. Someday soon, the day of reckoning is coming.

6) Mayor Mark Mallory taking home $500 per month for a car allowance for his Lincoln Towne Car that was never approved by the Council. COASTer Mark Miller has a suit pending in front of Judge Marsh on the topic.

5) The Hamilton County Commissioners for reducing the property tax rollback that was promised as a part of the stadium tax deal cut in 1996.

(To clarify: the 2010 Commission on a 2-1 vote reduced the promised rollback for tax year 2011. In recent weeks, the 2011 Commission maintained the rollback on a 2-1 vote for tax year 2012)

4) Council member Laure Quinlivan using her office staff and equipment to run her Council re-election campaign. Thanks to a COAST taxpayer action, Judge Martin has ordered her to pay back the City $1,500 for stealing City resources and enjoined her from ever doing it again.


3) The approval by City Council of $4.1 million to enclose the atrium at City Hall. COAST will explore this boondoggle further, but suffice it to say they pissed this money away.

2) Spending by Mayor Mark Mallory of $8 million this year from for streetcar planning and engineering. Even worse, it's bad engineering, calling for the 40-ton leviathons to rumble ON TOP of 100-year old brick sewer lines. Freaking brilliant!

Drum roll, please.....

And the single, number one foolish act of 2011 belongs to ....

1) The voters who rejected Senate Bill 5 at the polls, the one proposal that could have righted state government and brought into control union contracts for the State of Ohio and thousands of local government units throughout the state.

So, big lumps of coal for Mayor Mark Mallory, City Manager Milton Dohoney, and Laure Quinlivan for abusing their offices shamelessly. Smaller lumps of coal for the voters, who did a few good things this past year as well.

Mike Brown Property Tax increase

Hamilton County homeowners face four more years of higher property taxes to provide more money to the stadiums and the teams who inhabit them. That's the plan that has been submitted by Commission President Greg Hartmann and the County Administrator. The other two Commissioners, Chris Monzel and Todd Portune, have each submitted their own plans which include no property tax increases.

As part of the 1996 Stadium Sales Tax vote, homeowners were promised that 30% of those Sales Tax revenues would be refunded to them in the form of the Property Tax Rollback (PTR). Through 2009 this promise was kept. In December 2010, Commissioner Greg Hartmann and then-Commissioner David Pepper broke this promise, taking away most of that rollback for 2011.

Hartmann and the County Administrator are looking to strip 70-75% of this PTR through at least 2015. Both Monzel and Portune believe that the PTR promise should kept. All three plans currently lack a second vote, which provides a good opportunity for citizen involvement to affect the final outcome.

Everyone is encouraged to contact the Commissioners with their thoughts. Hartmann is looking to pass his plan Monday morning before the Commissioners have any opportunity to hear the public's thoughts. Please encourage all three Commissioners to: 1) support a plan which includes the full PTR; and 2) postpone Monday's planned vote to allow for public comment.

Hamilton County Commissioners Hold Public Hearings for Tax Levies

(Note: This was sent to the COAST mail list on 7/12/11)

This week the Hamilton County Commissioners will hold the first two of their three public hearings to determine the tax levies that will appear on this November's ballot. Those hearings are Wednesday July 13th at 11:30 AM, Thursday July 14th at 5:00 PM, and Wednesday July 27th at 11:30 AM. Each hearing will be held at 138 East Court Street in Room 605, the usual Commission meeting location. The public is invited and encouraged to speak. Expect a two-minute time limit.

These hearings and subsequent Commission action represent the final step to placing Commission-controlled levies on the ballot. In Hamilton County each of these levies are referred to the Tax Levy Review Committee, who then spends several months analyzing them with the help of a detailed consultant report. This year the Indigent Care Levy and Children's Services Levy are up for review. The committee's reports and recommendations to the Commissioners can be read here.

Unfortunately, as the July COAST newsletter revealed, the Tax Levy Review Committee failed to recommend sufficient cuts to uphold the Commissioners' promise to hold property taxes level. This promise was made after a dreadful December 2010 vote where Democratic former Commissioner David Pepper and Republican Commissioner Greg Hartmann voted to repeal most of the Property Tax Rollback that was promised to the voters as part of the Stadium Sales Tax deal.

In order to uphold this promise, the combined size of the Commission-controlled levies must be cut approximately 20% to make up for the stadium property tax increase. Yet the Children's Services Levy, for example, was recommended to maintain the same funding as the prior levy cycle. And the Indigent Care Levy, which was previously cited by Commissioner Hartmann as the levy ripe for big savings, is recommended to receive a cut of only 13-23%.

It is the Commissioners who make the final decision on each levy. The Commissioners will not be able to uphold their promise to hold property taxes level if they accept the committee's recommendations. They will either need to cut these levies much deeper, or rescind their tragic 2010 decision to repeal most of the Property Tax Rollback. We encourage the Commissioners to keep their word to the voters.

Former Commissioner Neyer files bankruptcy

Tom Neyer was one of Hamilton County's worst Commissioners ever. Neyer is most known for joining with fellow Commissioner Bob Bedinghaus to pass the stadium deals that have bankrupted Hamilton County. Born with every advantage possible, Neyer has squandered all of it and recently filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

Neyer's filing revealed assets of $1.4 million with debts of $69 million. In other words, Neyer ran his own finances about as well as he and Bedinghaus ran Hamilton County's.

When appointed to be County Commissioner, Neyer was a 30-year-old neophyte with no elected experience, no financial skills, no ability to understand issues, no business skills, and even his work history was limited. So that was the best the Hamilton County Republican Party could find? Somehow I don't buy that. They could have thrown a water balloon into Fountain Square and hit someone more qualified to be County Commissioner.

Perhaps in the comments section, someone can explain to me how this incompetent person was the Hamilton County GOP's choice to be appointed Hamilton County Commissioner in 1997. Please name names and point fingers. This region needs to start learning from its mistakes so we can stop repeating them.

There are serious consequences to selecting unqualified hacks to fill important positions, and there's a lot of people (especially the current County Commissioners) who need to understand this. Thanks to Neyer and Bedinghaus, Hamilton County is bankrupt today. Bedinghaus and Neyer said we could build two stadiums for $500 million combined, heavily subsidize the Cincinnati Public Schools, build the Banks, build Fort Washington Way, build the Transit Center, give away the store to the Bengals, and reduce property taxes through the Property Tax Rollback, all for a 1/2 cent Sales Tax hike that would expire by 2017 at the latest.

In reality the stadium Sales Tax will stay on the books through at least the year 2032. Even worse, in spite of these 35 years of stadium taxes the stadium fund will be running large annual deficits through 2032 which will likely total $700 million or more! This means Hamilton County will have to pass another stadium tax increase, or follow Neyer's example and file Chapter 9 Municipal Bankruptcy which looks like a better option every day.

Tom Neyer has managed to bankrupt not just himself, but also an entire urban county. That's quite an accomplishment for one person.

Bengals ranked worst franchise in sports

Each year ESPN's The Magazine ranks each sports franchise based on how much they give back to the fans for the amount of time and money invested in them. Out of 122 professional sports franchises, the Cincinnati Bengals ranked dead last. This is no surprise to anyone who has watched how the Bengals conduct themselves on the field, off the field, or with their lackeys on the County Commission.

In addition to being bottom-feeders in their overall rating, the Bungles also ranked dead last in each of the following categories:

1) Fan relations - openness and consideration of players, coaches and management toward fans;
2) Players - effort on the court/field/ice and likeability off of it; and
3) Title track - championships won, or expected to be won, during the lifetime of current fans

Hamilton County taxpayers have made a massive investment in the Bungles and have nothing to show for it but a mountain of debt and a county on the verge of bankruptcy. We didn't need ESPN to tell us how bad the Bungles are at treating their fans. We know the Bungles are a lousy investment. If the team's clueless fans want to begin each season thinking this is our year, then that's on them, but our county shouldn't invest any more money in them.

This year and next year the stadium fund faced deficits of $15 million/year, which was plugged by two Commissioners who broke their word to the voters and repealed most of the Property Tax Rollback that was promised to us. After that it only gets worse, as the annual deficit will rise to $30 million/year. That makes the Property Tax Rollback in serious jeopardy of being eliminated entirely.

COAST has advocated time and time again for maintaining the PTR. Our advocacy - and everyone else's - for this principle is needed now more than ever. The citizens of Hamilton County are entitled to the money they were promised from the Stadium Sales Tax increase. And just as importantly, Hamilton County needs to stop investing any more of its limited tax dollars in the worst franchise in North America.

Some lessons not learned just yet

More weeding needed in garden of government

As conservatives and Tea Partiers were feeling their oats following the November election, we have quickly learned that the lessons of the 2010 election have not yet been properly impressed on many elected officials.

But it’s OK.  We had so much getting rid of bad apples in 2010, we are happy to help remove another round of big-spending Democrats and traitorous Republicans in 2012.  It’s entirely their choice depending on their performance in office.   

Here, we give you a rundown of the attempts by our representatives to immediately revert to “business as usual” as quickly as they could following loud and clear demand of the electorate of fiscal responsibility.

Hamilton County

David Pepper lost his race for State Auditor thanks to David Yost’s courageous campaign that exposed Pepper’s record as a profligate taxer and spender.  Thus, imagine our surprise that David Pepper immediately after the election voted to eliminate the stadium property tax rollback, a rollback that had been solemnly promised to the taxpayers as part of the stadium sales tax deal in 1998.  Pepper himself had called a repeal of the property tax rollback a “deeply illegitimate act,” and promised never to vote for it.  Well, so much for fiscal restraint and campaign promises.  By the way, Republican Commissioner Greg Hartmann voted for the higher property taxes as well, promising to make up for the increase with reductions in the County’s 10 special levies.  COAST will be watching and holding him to that promise.

City of Cincinnati

In a breathtaking budget process that ran through Christmas and almost to New Year’s eve, Cincinnati City Council repeated the mistakes made in past years and in the Ohio Statehouse and Washington by using debt as a means of “solving” the City’s yawning $60 million budget gap.  Unprincipled politicians used City reserves, invented savings that don’t exist, and borrowed from funds dedicated to other purposes.  The supporters of the ill-conceived budget: Roxanne Qualls, Laure Quinlivan, Cecil Thomas, Charlie Winburn (yes, he was COAST-endorsed in 2009), and Wendell Young. 

One bright spot in the midst of City budget votes was a repeal of a ordinance that the manager was apparently claiming gave him authority to impose a trash tax without a new vote of the Council. This was sponsored by Councilmember Bortz and, on this one, Council member Winburn supported the important motion.

Washington D.C.

The Obama Administration and congressional democrats tried one last time before the Republicans take over the House and their majority is diluted in the Senate to push through an astounding $______ Billion spending bill.  Shockingly, several Republican Senators were in active conspiracy with the Democrat majority in trying to rush through this bill in the closing days of the administration.  Only public outrage, including motivated Tea Partiers, killed the bi-partisan abomination.

Also concerning was the horse-trading needed to get the Bush tax cuts, scheduled to expire at year end, extended.  Democrat negotiators crammed into the bill yet another extension of unemployment benefits and an extension of EITC (read: welfare) benefits.  Congressman Schmidt was alone in the local Congressional delegation in opposing the bill.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

COASTers save Stadium Property Tax Rollback

Despite David Pepper’s treachery, calls and letters from COASTers in response to repeated COAST calls to action saved the full Stadium Property Tax Rollback on Monday, November 30.  Because of an overwhelming outpouring of support from COASTer’s clearly and firmly demanding retention of the rollback, Commissioners Portune and Hartman voted to save the rollback for 2009, forcing the County to scale back spending form the insolvent fund and cut elsewhere to fund its deficit.

Thank you COASTers!!!

Behind-The-Scenes Intrigue of Stadium Property Tax Rollback

"et tu, Todd?!?"

There’s plenty of back-stabbing and intrigue on the intense Stadium property tax rollback story in the halls of the County Courthouse.

We got ourselves into the Stadium financing mess in Hamilton County not because of the Reds, Bengals, and unprincipled politicians.  Indeed greedy team owners and selfish politicians did what they are expected to do – act in their self-interest. 

However, the media and the voters were asleep at the switch following the Stadium Sales Tax vote in 1996, leading to the disaster that generated many headlines, including the recent New York Times feature story.

Even worse, the voters and media are ignoring the story happening right under our noses today, exacerbating the misery of Hamilton County taxpayers.

·                     The local media steadfastly refuses to cover the continued spending of hundreds of millions of dollars from the bankrupt Stadium Fund by Commissioners Portune and Pepper, making the fiscal prospects of the fund without a tax increase or general fund subsidy impossible and the situation more urgent than it otherwise would be.  Why do they insist on ignoring the story?

·                     The Stadium Fund fiasco and Pepper’s broken promises has created a significant rift between Commissioner Portune and Pepper, including last-minute back-stabbing and name calling.  Their character shines through.

·                     Lost in the story of Portune’s vote against a property tax increase is Portune’s continuing drive towards yet another massive sales tax increase.  Methodically throughout the County’s budget processes since the failure of his sales tax hike in 2007, including in the recent Stadium Fund vote, Portune has resisted cutting spending, and dipping into reserves, making a sales tax more likely in 2010 or 2011.  Like all liberals, Portune never gives up.

·                     Finally, we rarely see a politician “outed” like Pepper has been on the rollback vote – calling his own position “deeply illegitimate” and providing a clear roadmap to the logic of his treachery.  Not one media outlet has covered his duplicity.

And we wonder how we got into this position to begin with!  As a community, let’s stop sweeping things under the rug.

Pepper and Portune plan early Christmas "present" for homeowners

Urgent COAST call to action:
Please contact Hamilton County Commissioners to urge that they keep stadium property tax rollback

The drive for higher taxes and spending from the Hamilton County Commission under our liberal democrat Commissioners Todd Portune and David Pepper continues, this time with a vote in the coming weeks on elimination of the stadium property tax rollback, a massive tax hike on single family homeowners in Hamilton County.

Please contact your County Commissioners today to urge that they retain the property tax rollback, so the taxpayers are not screwed by the politicians in the stadium deals once again.

Todd Portune, (513) 946-4401, fax (513) 946-4446

David Pepper, (513) 946-4409, fax (513) 946-4407

Greg Hartmann, (513) 946-4405, fax (513) 946-4404

When running for office, both Portune and Pepper made solemn pledges that they would retain the property tax rollback. However, Portune and Pepper have since spent the stadium fund into the red, and they are now claiming a tax increase is their only option: read yesterday's articles in the Cincinnati Business Courier and the Cincinnati Enquirer. Consider this:

1. Commissioners have spent more than $11 million on outside counsel from the stadium fund over the objections of Prosecutor Joe Deters and the Common Pleas Court Judges, who oversee outside counsel. Deters claims he can do the work for less money and the Commissioners actions are wasteful. Commissioners are so insistent on spending these monies on Thursday they sued the Commissioners at the Ohio Supreme Court to keep the money flowing to their favored counsel. (COAST reported here on how we intend to countersue the Commissioners over this illegal contract and spending.)
2. Commissioners have committed to proceed with tens of millions of dollars of improvements and development subsidies at the Banks project from the Stadium Fund, knowing they did not have the ability to pay for these improvements without a tax hike.
3. As COAST reported here, in August, rather than cut their profligate spending, Commissioners borrowed an additional $5.5 million to subsidize the stadium fund.

As COAST reported here, Commissioners Portune and Pepper have made it an article of faith, beyond mere fiscal considerations, that they would not eliminate the property tax rollback under any circumstances. Consider this unequivocal statement from Commissioner Pepper just one year ago:

Far beyond a debate over tax policy . . . this is a much more fundamental issue of basic governance, and adhering to the clear consent of the governed. In that light, I consider any move to divert dollars from the PTR to be a deeply illegitimate act. It lacks fundamental integrity. And it's simply not an option.

David Pepper, PepTalk Blog, Nov 18, 2008

When Hamilton County voters passed the stadium sales tax in 1996, a key part of the bargain was that 30% of the revenue from the ½ cent sales tax would be devoted to property tax reduction. It is that rollback that is imperiled because of the poor fiscal policies of Portune and Pepper.

Memory has not yet dimmed of the treachery of Portune and Pepper in enacting the Super-Sized Jail Sales Tax increase in 2007 without a vote of the people, only months after a smaller tax was rejected at the polls. COAST and the WeDemandAVote.Com coalition successfully placed that issue before the voters with a petition drive, and defeated the massive tax increase.

COAST needs you urgently to contact Portune and Pepper and demand they keep their word, and retain the property tax rollback. Further, that they drop their suit to retain their expensive outside counsel, and curtail their over-spending. Finally, please contact Commissioner Greg Hartmann and thank him for keeping his word to retain the property tax rollback.

• Todd Portune, (513) 946-4401, fax (513) 946-4446
• David Pepper, (513) 946-4409, fax (513) 946-4407
• Greg Hartman, (513) 946-4405, fax (513) 946-4404

COAST Issues Taxpayer Demand to Pepper/Portune

over $13.5 million Banks attorney fee insider deal

while Commissioners confront elimination of promised tax rollback

The shameful case of wasted money and insider dealing at the Stadium/Banks project continues unabated.

Two sad chapters in this story are playing out not in the halls of the County Commission and the Ohio Supreme Court. Here’s an update:

· Prosecutor Joe Deters and Hamilton County’s Judges have criticized the contract of Ohio law firm Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease that has sucked more than $13.5 million from the taxpayers since 2002 for legal work on the Stadium and Banks projects. In October, Hamilton County’s Judges, who under Ohio statute are permitted to authorize such outside legal contracts, revoked the agreement, forcing a showdown between Commissioners Pepper and Portune and the judges. On Friday, the Commissioners filed a bizarre suit, with themselves acting as attorneys, against their own Judges at the Ohio Supreme Court. COAST has sent the Prosecutor a taxpayer demand letter seeking to sue the Commissioners over the continuation of the illegal contract. Under the letter, Deters either must sue the Commissioners himself or allow COAST attorneys to do so on his behalf. Portune and Pepper receive thousands of dollars in campaign contributions through their contacts at the Vorys firm.

· Also, this month, the chickens finally come home to roost on the massive over-spending in the stadium sales tax fund, including the recent massive over-spending on the Banks project. As COAST reported here and here, when the stadium sales tax was passed, a solemn promise made to the taxpayers was that 30% of the revenue from the ½ cent sales tax would be devoted to property tax reduction. Both Pepper and Portune have made explicit campaign promises to retain the rollback, not just as a matter of lower taxes, but as an article of faith with the voters.

Still, when confronted with the option of cutting spending or eliminating the sacrosanct rollback in September, Portune and Pepper opted instead to take on $5.5 million more in debt in the fund for just several months, making elimination of the rollback almost a foregone conclusion.

So, prepare to be screwed again by our liberal democrats on the Commission in the next few weeks.

Quadruple Liberal Democrat Tax Whammy Coming

COAST predicts fate of taxpayers: We are screwed

State of Ohio moves to increase income taxes
Governor Ted Strickland, following rigidly in the footsteps of his failed predecessor Bob Taft, has steadfastly refused to reform state government and cut spending, opting instead for a slow descent into a rust-belt stagnation. Just before November’s election, the Democrat-controlled Ohio House endorsed Strickland’s plan to delay for two years the 4.2 percent income-tax cut that takes effect Jan. 1 to fill an $851 million budget hole. The GOP-controlled Senate gets to decide on the Republican option: higher taxes or finally reforming state government and reducing its size and scope. COAST is hopeful that the current Senate leadership may actually “get it” and hold the line on the growth in state government. Read more here.
COAST predicts the GOP holds the line.

Cincinnati City Manager, Mayor and Council plot and scheme for higher taxes
Mayor Mallory, aided by Manager Dohoney and a lame duck majority on Council are plotting to raise taxes during the 27-day lame duck session of the Council and in Council’s upcoming 2010 budget process. This summer, Manager Dohoney promised that Council would pursue new revenue after the election, and Finance Committee Chairman Laketa Cole intentionally delayed a vote on the continuation of the property tax rollback until after the election. On the agenda for the coming 60 days before Council are a property tax increase, a new trash tax, and a possible push for a general earnings tax hike.
COAST predicts democrats screw City taxpayers yet again.

Day of reckoning coming for Commission on Stadium Property Tax Rollback
As COAST reported here and here, Hamilton County’s Commission has foolishly over-spent on the Bengals stadium and the Banks project and underestimated the revenue to be derived form the sales tax. As a result, the fund maintained for bond repayments has a massive deficit. In August, County Commissioners were faced with a vote on the shortfall. They had a choice: finally cut over-spending or reverse the firmly promised tax rebate. They chose neither. Instead, they elected to take on an additional $5.5 million in debt and postpone the hard decisions until December or January. Well, that time for decision is here. COAST predicts our liberal, big-spending Commissioners will break their solemn promise and raise property taxes on Hamilton County’s beleaguered taxpayers, once again proving what a mistake it was to approve the stadium sales tax.
COAST predicts liberal democrats Pepper and Portune will break their solemn promise and shaft the taxpayers by eliminating the rollback.

And Cincinnati Public Schools wants yet another tax increase
On top of massive City and County tax increases, and in addition to absolutely massive tax increases in 2008 and 2009 resulting in a 22% increase in school taxes for City residents, officials at Cincinnati Public Schools announced only days after their latest levy victory that they are pushing yet another massive tax hike in 2010. We would say it is unbelievable, but it has become entirely too predictable. COAST expresses its deep appreciation for the efforts of challengers John Banner and Chris McConnell in running to bring fiscal sanity to the School Board and giving voice to school levy opponents.
COAST asserts that the CPS Board is wholly owned by the teacher’s union. To provide for massive union pay increases, COAST predicts the liberal democrat school board will again seek a tax hike. It will, of course, “be for the children.”