Like most county governments in the state of Ohio, dealing with a severe reduction in the general fund from the state government, Hamilton County is seeking ways to reduce their costs without being forced to close services that's provided to the public.
One of those ideas came from Hamilton County Commissioner Todd Portune a couple of months ago, proposing a "tax on Bengals tickets by up to $14" so that the stadium's maintenance costs that's paid by county would come from those that attend the game. The proposal didn't make the November ballot because supporters failed to submit the required 7,468 signatures.
They're not finished yet.
Via the Biz Journal, Fox19.com is reporting that supporters are out in force this election Tuesday to get the required signatures to put the proposal on the March 2012 ballot.
The effort is aimed at helping to deal with the county's stadium budget shortfall, but county commissioners aren't in agreement on if a ticket surcharge could actually be implemented.
From Fox19.com:
Workers with the group Class Action Cincinnati have been pulling together volunteers to cover 41 polls Tuesday in an effort to gather more signatures in support of a ticket tax.
"If they're coming back out and they've got that ‘I voted today' sticker on, there's a pretty good guarantee they're a registered Cincinnati voter so we know that signature will be good," explained initiative supporter Todd Portune.
He says the ticket tax would not pay for the stadiums themselves but help defray other related costs he believes Hamilton County tax payers did not sign up for when they voted for the point five percent sales tax increase in 1996.
Where do you fall on the issue? Should those attending the Bengals and Reds games be forced to pay a higher tax to help with stadium maintenance costs?