Hamilton County shoppers were supposed to get a break in April when a special tax to fund Union Terminal renovations expires.

Instead, the three-person Hamilton County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously on Tuesday to permanently extend that 0.25% sales tax to help stave off a looming budget deficit.

That means the county’s sales tax rate, instead of dropping to 6.75%, will remain at 7%.

Commission president Denise Driehaus said the increase will allow the county to provide basic safety services in areas such as the jail, the courts and the coroner’s office.

The county has cut and cut to stave off financial disaster, Driehaus said, but there’s nothing left to cut.

“We’ve been treading water for a while here in Hamilton County,” she said. “We’ve closed buildings, we’ve reduced staff, we’ve increased fees to our local partners… From my point of view, it’s time to sink or swim, and I think we’re choosing to move forward and swim as a county.

"We've timed this so it will not raise your taxes. The one (tax) will roll off as the other rolls on."

Hamilton County was facing a $20 million shortfall in its proposed $276 million budget for 2020. County Administrator Jeff Aluotto said the 0.25% sales tax will generate $20 million in the final six months of 2020 and $40 million a year after that.

Commissioners also promised to repeal a 1 mil property transfer tax that was approved in 2018.

The move by the three Democrats is still likely to face opposition, however. Commissioners voted this past year to increase the sales tax, but Republicans and anti-tax groups gathered enough signatures to put the issue on the ballot for a referendum.

Once that happened, commissioners rescinded the tax before voters got a chance to either accept it or beat it down.

This most recent tax would be subject to a referendum in March if the public gathers enough signatures. That would be about 34,000, based on the turnout in the last gubernatorial election.

The tax could also have a chilling effect on the upcoming bus levy, expected to be on the ballot in March.

Cincinnati Metro is asking voters for a 0.8% increase to the sales tax, which, with the 0.25% tax still in place, would put Hamilton County’s total rate at 7.8%, among the highest in the state.

If both issues end up on the ballot in March, that could prove complicated for campaigns and voters trying to sort out the issues.

Metro board chair Kreg Keesee said his board will discuss how best to move forward now that the commissioners have made their decision. It’s possible Metro could hold off on its levy until November, but such a decision would involve other factors, including expected voter turnout in the presidential primary versus the general election.

Board of Commissioners vice president Stephanie Dumas said that as a private citizen, she used to wonder how the county could possibly need more money. Now, with nine months on the board, she realizes how dire the situation is.

“I’m asking the citizens to trust the people you put up here are doing the best they can and would not agree to a sales tax if it were not necessary,” Dumas said. “There’s no excess money here. … We don’t have any icing on the cake right now.”

Commissioner Todd Portune said he and his colleagues had no real choice. In order for the county to meet its obligations, as required by law, he said, it needs more money.

“We can’t keep passing property taxes to make ends meet,” he said. “We have to act. We must act.”