"Secret backroom deals."

That's how at least one state official describes the behind-the-scenes efforts to win a piece of the FC Cincinnati franchise for Clermont County.

A “secret tax increase plan” and an “11th-hour” deal are phrases used in an email from state Rep. John Becker, R-Union Township, about a hotel tax that could pave the way for construction of a practice facility in Clermont County for FC Cincinnati.

“Do you know if the people involved in this secret tax increase plan gave any thought to the fact that the public hates secret backroom deals,” Becker wrote in a June 13 email to Clermont County Commissioner Ed Humphrey demanding answers about a 1 percent hotel tax.

Becker's email is one of the multiple messages on the topic of a hotel tax received by The Enquirer on Oct. 13 in response to a Sept. 8 public records request. The emails span several days beginning in early June and are an exchange of comments and questions between key county Republican party leaders.

According to the email exchanges, the 1 percent hotel tax was inserted into the House version of the state biennium budget, without discussion or debate, by Rep. Doug Green, R-Mount Orab, the night before the House budget vote. Its inclusion came at the request of the Clermont Convention and Visitors Bureau. Becker questioned the process and secrecy, as did others in his party.

The emails indicate there was an intentional effort to leave Becker out of the discussions because of his "reputation for voting 'no' on the budget bill," as noted in an email from Humphrey.

The chain of messages seems to originate from an email that reads like an SOS from the Clermont County Republican Party leadership.

“I have today heard some sketchy details about a ‘hotel tax’ for Clermont County hotels that has been inserted into the proposed state budget currently under consideration by the General Assembly,” wrote Howard Hines, the Republican Party County Central Committee chair, in a June 10 email to nearly a dozen county Republicans. “I don’t know much about it, but I’m unpleasantly surprised by what little I do know.”

“To my knowledge, there has been no discussion of such a tax for our county, no debate, no public consideration at all,” continued Hines. He asks for additional information from anyone in the know and suggests a public forum for review of the hotel tax legislation

The email exchanges were primarily between Becker, Hines, Clermont County Commissioners David Uible and Ed Humphrey, Union Township Trustees Matt Beamer and John McGraw, and Union Township resident Chris Hicks. Others were copied.

Clermont County has 12 hotels, eight of which are in Union Township. Trustees McGraw and Beamer pointedly expressed their displeasure in the process.

“This whole thing is bad for Clermont County,” wrote McGraw in a June 14 message. “We now have townships, the county and the CVB in conflict with each other when we should be working together to achieve common goals. We now have residents questioning transparency and honesty. We have a lack of leadership. All of this was avoidable.”

In his June 11 message to Chris Hicks, and again copied to many, Beamer praises an unnamed individual who told others about the plans.

"... Otherwise as an elected official by the people of Union Township, I wouldhave not been informed on this matter,” he wrote. “Union Township will not receive any new monies from the hoteltax, but will be expected to provide all the local services during this expected riseon tourism to the area. I would have hoped the township would have been asked in advance to look at a regional plan.”

Even ahead of the emails, Hicks questioned the involvement of Uible in the visitors bureau and efforts to build a practice facility for FC Cincinnati.

More:CVB President: FC Cincinnati practice facility would bring $50 million to Clermont County over 5 years

In a June 9 email to Hicks, Uible wrote, "Almost all of the sales revenue from this facility being built will end up at the hotels, restaurants, gas pumps … in Union Township. Nothing is being given to any private business like what they did in Hamilton County with the stadiums.”

In the message, Uible explained the rationale for the secrecy.

“This was not kept from anyone intentionally, however, we were trying to keep it quiet due to competition from all the surrounding counties,” he wrote.

Hoteliers in Union Township approved of the tax six to eight months ago when approached about it, Uible wrote. One manager who was supportive now says he wasn't consulted.

“(I will likely report him to his management if the 1 percent doesn’t go through and he will be fired),” Uible wrote. “One person truly objects to this and made it his mission to tell everyone else, like yourself, how bad this is – people are funny when a great project isn’t their idea,” Uible wrote to Hicks.

The tax made it to the final version of the state’s biennium budget. It will not be effective without action by the county commissioners.

Clermont County already has a 6 percent hotel tax, of which 3 percent goes to the township where the hotel is located. The remaining 3 percent goes to the visitors bureau.

The process is still being played out in the courts.

Uible filed a civil protection order and later dropped it against Hicks. An attorney, on Hicks' behalf, later filed a federal lawsuit against Uible, the Clermont County Commissioners, Clermont County Sheriff’s office and the visitors bureau, claiming Hicks' constitutional right to free speech was violated.

The Ohio attorney general, at the request of the county prosecutor, is also providing opinions regarding whether a conflict exists for some elected officials and employees who also serve on the visitors bureau executive board.