Cincinnati Metro: No bus levy vote this fall. Service cuts, fare increases likely.

Hannah K. Sparling | Cincinnati Enquirer

Cincinnati Metro will not go for a levy this fall, a move the board president says will likely lead to service cuts and fare increases.

The Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority, the agency that runs Cincinnati Metro, was supposed to decide Wednesday morning whether it would ask Hamilton County voters this November for more money.

Instead, late Tuesday afternoon, word leaked that the levy was a no-go. The Enquirer posted a story, and about half an hour later, transit board chair Kreg Keesee issued a statement, confirming the news.

It became clear, Keesee wrote, that there was no consensus on the 13-member board regarding the potential levy.

“I do not believe that the current environment provides a clear path to victory at the polls even if consensus had been reached,” Keesee wrote.

“I wish that the circumstances we face were different. Our Board has worked hard to get us to a place where we could be successful. I am deeply disappointed, primarily for the riders and the potential riders of the Metro bus system, but also to the community, for the broader economic development and quality of life impacts for our region. We need to move quickly to prepare for next year as it is obvious from our financials that we cannot wait much longer.”

The decision is a win for anti-tax group COAST and Hamilton County Commissioners president Todd Portune, who was openly and staunchly opposed to a levy.

It is a huge blow to bus riders and public-transit activists such as Cam Hardy, who has been pushing for a levy for more than a year.

“Wow,” Hardy said Tuesday, when The Enquirer told him the news. “OK.”

Hardy pointed to a June 2017 resolution, where the SORTA board (with different members) voted unanimously to pursue a levy in 2018. It’s “extremely disappointing” the current board didn’t follow through, Hardy said.

“They should be embarrassed,” he said. “They made a resolution to bus riders last year because the year before that, they couldn’t get this stuff done. And now, they couldn’t get it done this year, either. They have failed us. That entire board needs to resign.”

Hardy, president and co-founder of the Better Bus Coalition, said his group will move forward on its own, working toward a potential tax at the city level, bypassing the county and potentially shrinking the footprint of the bus system.

“We held off because we believed the SORTA board would the right thing,” he said. “That has not happened. And so now, we have to do it ourselves.”

Metro is facing a $184 million deficit over the next decade. Ridership is dropping, and without a levy, it is likely the board will have to cut services and increase fares, Keesee wrote.

The deficit projection for next year is nearly $11 million. By law, Metro can't run a deficit, so the board has to do something now to make ends meet.

“Our projected operating and capital deficits are real,” Keesee wrote. “Our bus system is unsustainable.”

Metro still plans to hold its special meeting at 9 a.m. Wednesday, though there will be no vote regarding a levy. The meeting is open to the public.