BY B.G. GREGG
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Hamilton County homeowners will see their property tax bills cut up to 4.85 percent next year under a $17 million tax credit to be approved by county commissioners today.
The credit is made possible by revenues from the 1996 sales tax passed to pay for new stadiums. Seventy percent of the income from the half-cent sales tax is used for the stadiums. The remaining 30 percent returns to homeowners.
Commissioner Bob Bedinghaus said revenue from the half-cent tax is now at $55 million. The first year after the tax was passed, it raised about $43 million.
"As the sales-tax revenue increases, so too does the credit," he said.
Homeowners received a $12 million credit in 1997 and $15 million credit in 1998, or 4.5 percent. The credit is the first of its kind in Ohio.
County Auditor Dusty Rhodes estimates homeowners will get a 4.85 percent credit this year, which means someone with a $1,000 tax bill will receive a $48.50 credit.
"That's a very, very rough estimate," he said. "The important thing here is that the commissioners have again increased the amount. I think it is terrific. They are doing what they said they would do."
The Bengals' stadium complex is expected to cost about $404 million and be finished in August 2000. The new Reds stadium is expected to cost $297 million and be finished in 2003.
