Effort to repeal sales tax hike fails; organizers say they won't get enough signatures

Scott Wartman | Cincinnati Enquirer

It looks like the sales tax hike in Hamilton County will stay.

Hamilton County Republicans got thousands of signatures to force a referendum on the 0.25% sales tax passed by Hamilton County commissioners in October, said Indian Hill businessman and Republican Andy Black.

But as Black and the other Republicans leading the effort counted signatures on Monday, they realized they wouldn’t reach the 34,000-signature threshold by the Thursday, 4 p.m. deadline.

“We’re disappointed,” said Black, who is running as a Republican for the Hamilton County Board of Commissioners and was in charge of the petition effort. “It definitely deserves to be on the ballot.”

Hamilton County's sales tax was supposed to go down in April. That's when the 0.25% sales tax voters approved in 2014 to pay for a $200 million Union Terminal repair was set to expire.

Instead, the three Democratic county commissioners voted to extend the 0.25% sales tax indefinitely.

Republicans immediately responded vowing to start a petition to put the sales tax hike on the March 2020 ballot. By state law, they only had a month to gather 34,000 signatures.

Unlike last year’s successful effort to halt a sales tax increase, Republicans didn’t spend $50,000 to hire a firm to help collect signatures. Instead, they hoped to use Election Day on Nov. 5 to get the signatures outside polling locations.

Even though voters won’t get a chance to decide on the 0.25% sales tax, Black said he thinks it’ll play a role in the commission race next year.

“I hope voters remember it,” Black said.

When she learned the petition effort failed, Hamilton County Board of Commissioners President Denise Driehaus didn't gloat. She defended the board's actions.

"We all three felt that it was our obligation to provide the revenue to provide a coordinated 911 system, an efficient jail and a court system," Driehaus said.

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