Tuesday, May 11, 1999
Proposed tax increase to benefit parks
BY STEVE KEMME
The Cincinnati Enquirer
HAMILTON — To help satisfy the demand for improved park and recreation facilities, Butler County park officials want to increase the real estate property transfer tax.
The current Butler County tax on property transfers is $2 per $1,000 in property value. MetroParks of Butler County wants county commissioners to raise the tax to $2.35 per $1,000 of valuation for five years.
That means the buyer of a $100,000 house would pay an additional $35 in property transfer taxes.
The $2 million to $2.5 million that would be generated from the tax would be used to acquire more park land and to improve existing parks, MetroParks Director Mike Muska said Monday at the county commissioners' public hearing on the proposed tax hike.
“We feel it's a fair request,” Mr. Muska said. “It could go a long way toward helping the park district.”
Butler County is the only major urban county in Ohio whose park district is not supported by a tax levy, he said.
With Butler County's growing population, it's more important than ever to improve the county's park system, said Stanley Rullman, president of MetroParks' board of commissioners.
“We have operated on a very modest budget for a long time,” he said. “The population growth in the county is so great, we can't expand the park system fast enough.”
The county's population is estimated at 331,000 — about 50,000 more than 10 years ago.
This transfer tax increase would provide only temporary financial relief for the park district, park officials say. The park board also is considering asking that a tax levy be placed on the November ballot.
The Hamilton-Fairfield-Oxford Board of Realtors objects to the transfer tax increase.
“It's unfair,” said Carol Hoover, the organization's president. “It targets a very small group of people.” She said the Board of Realtors recognizes the importance of a good park system and would support a parks tax levy.
County voters have rejected three park levies since 1992.
John and Earlene Sykes of Hamilton, who enjoyed a picnic Monday in Rentschler Forest Preserve in Fairfield Township, said they favor the property transfer tax increase.
“They need the money bad,” Mr. Sykes said. “They don't have the money to keep up the parks the way they should be.”
Butler County's $2.35 transfer tax would be lower than the transfer tax in Hamilton, Warren and Clermont counties The tax is $2.50 in Hamilton County and $3 in Warren and Clermont counties.
MetroParks has 18 parks, preserves and historical sites on 1,500 acres of land. Its annual budget is $1 million.
County commissioners will decide whether to approve the property transfer tax increase about a week after another public hearing, which is scheduled for 9:45 a.m. Monday. It will be at the commissioners' hearing room in the county administration building on High Street in Hamilton.
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