Sorta Issue 7 Taxy Levy in Cincinnati, Ohio

This important session of EmpowerU covers Sorta Issue 7, and the proposed sales tax increase that will appear on Hamilton County ballots during Ohio’s March 17, 2020 primary election. This proposal, put directly on the ballot by Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority, will ask voters to raise the sales tax by 0.8 percent in order to increase funding for Cincinnati Metro bus service as well as for road and bridge improvements.
Sorta is currently funded at a rate of about $50 Million by the City of Cincinnati’s earnings tax. Issue 7, would make the City Earnings Tax be reduced from 2.1% to 1.8% and fund Sorta completely with a countywide sales tax levy. This levy would raise about $100 million a year for the busy system, plus another $30 million a year for roads and bridges, with the infrastructure portion of the sales tax. The levy would go for 25 years which would make this levy the largest levy ever, at a total of $3.20 billion (about 5 times the total cost of Paul Brown Stadium and The Great American Ballpark).

25% of the proceeds of the levy will be used for public infrastructure projects, like building or maintaining roads or bridges, 75% of the levy will provide general revenues for operating the Metro transportation system. Sorta hopes to add new bus routes to better align them with job centers in suburban Hamilton County. On major routes, there will be a bus every 15 minutes. Some buses will run 24 hours a day. More crosstown service and more weekend service will be added. Hamilton County’s Integrating Committee will oversee the spending of the infrastructure portion of the levy.

Recorded on March 5 , 2020

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