Hamilton, County, Ohio – On June 18, Democratic County Commissioners, Todd Portune, and Denise Driehaus, voted to raise the Hamilton County’s sales tax by 0.2 percent for 18-months to balance the budget.
Today a group of Hamilton County Republicans presented petition signatures of 38,000 residents to the County Auditor hoping that voters in November will prevent the tax from taking effect. In announcing their success they said they needed 23,629 valid signatures to get the Referendum on the ballot. The petitions will remain in the Auditior’s office for 10-days for public inspection and them go to the Board of Elections where the signatures will be checked for accuracy.
Alex Triantafilou, the Hamilton County Republican Party chairman said in a press release today, “While the counting and confirming of the validity of these signatures will take several weeks, we are very pleased with the overwhelming support we received from every corner of Hamilton County and from citizens of all political stripes.”
Todd Portune and Denise Driehaus said the County faces a $28 million structural deficit and they were not willing to lead a county that cannot provide basic services. They blamed actions of the State House for their budget woes.
Paxton’s Grill
If Hamilton County follows the recent advice of Forbes magazine, it can save millions by doing away with the public library system and replacing them with Amazon bookstores:
https://www.fastcompany.com/90206403/forbes-suggested-amazon-should-replace-libraries-and-people-arent-having-it