Hamilton County

Jeff Aluotto
Denise Driehaus
President
Board of County Commissioners Administrator
Phone (513) 946-4406 Phone (513) 946-4420
Fax (513) 946-4404 Fax (513) 946-4444

Stephanie Summerow-Dumas Room 603 Jacqueline Panioto

Vice President County Administration Building Clerk of the Board
Phone (513) 946-4410 138 East Court Street Phone (513) 946-4414
Fax (513) 946-4407 Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 Fax (513) 946-4444

Todd Portune
www.hamilton-co.org
Phone (513) 946-4401
Fax (513) 946-4446

July 10, 2019

Kreg Keesee, Chair

Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority
Board of Trustees

Dear Chair Keesee and Members of the SORTA Board,

First, we would like to thank you for your service as a SORTA board member, especially when our
public transit system is in need of critical investments to maintain the fleet and expand the system so
that it better serves our community.

We have been paying close attention to the ongoing discussions related to the proposed plan to fund
the needs of SORTA through an increase in the County Sales Tax by a full penny, while eliminating
the City Earnings Tax.

We agree that the County should play a significant role in supporting public transit in our community
and would be willing to support an increase to the County Sales Tax for this purpose. There are also
other significant needs from public safety to infrastructure that the county’s sales tax capacity must
meet, and we believe that any proposed increase must be viewed in that context.

We cannot afford to put inordinate pressure on our capacity to provide basic services to county
residents and tax our residents far beyond the norm for similar counties in Ohio.

While most urban counties in Ohio have a 0.5% sales tax for transit authorities, we could support a
proposed SORTA sales tax proposal as high as 0.7% in 2020 based on the needs presented in the
“Reinventing Metro” report. Such a proposal would result in approximately $110 million in new
annual revenue for SORTA.

We are also of the opinion that it would be prudent to keep at least a part of SORTA’s current
funding source to adequately fund the transit system, especially if infrastructure improvements,
expanded service for people with disabilities throughout Hamilton County, and progress toward an
integrated regional system are a part of the final plan.

We are also aware of SORTA’s interest in improving our region’s transportation infrastructure, which
is a priority of the Board of County Commissioners are well. We are happy to discuss with SORTA
how the County’s resources can be garnered to address the infrastructure needs of Hamilton County.

We hope that the County, along with SORTA, the City and other important SORTA/Transit System
Stakeholders can advocate for a solution that is balanced and collaborative and one that the taxpayers
will support.

Sincerely,

Denise Driehaus Stephanie Summerow Dumas Todd Portune

County Commissioner, President County Commissioner, Vice President County Commissioner

cc: Gwen L. Robinson, Vice Chair

Heidi Black,
Maurice Brown,
Brendon Cull,
Blake Ethridge,
Allan Freeman,
Robert Harris,
Rod Hinton,
Thaddeus Hoffmeister,
Peter McLinden,
Mary Miller, and
Kathleen Wyenandt