HAMILTON — With all of the Butler County vote counted, the proposed quarter-cent sales tax increase for public transit lost by a narrow margin, and the 1.3-mill replacement levy for services for the elderly won approval.

        The sales tax increase for the Butler County Transit Authority lost 52 to 48 percent and the elderly services levy passed 57 percent to 43 percent.

        The unofficial defeat of the proposed five-year sales tax increase placed the future of the transit system in doubt. In May, it was turned down, 55 percent to 45 percent.

        After the May vote, the transit authority stopped its Dial-A-Ride program, which gave county residents curb-to-curb service any time for $2 a ride. With the $8 million a year the sales tax increase would generate, transit officials hope to restore Dial-A-Ride and expand fixed routes and park-and-ride sites.

        But without that revenue, the transit authority would eliminate fixed routes by Jan. 1 and would have to disband completely by July 1, said Amy Terango, general manager.

        The demise of the transit sales tax increase would give the Butler County commissioners more leeway in enacting a sales tax increase of their own in December for more than 30 projects — most involving road improvements.

        The commissioners are considering raising the county sales tax by a half-cent for six years, then dropping it a quarter-cent for four years. If the transit sales tax increase had passed, the commissioners would not have wanted to raise the tax by more than a quarter-cent.

        That would mean the county would collect $81 million in 10 years from the sales tax increase instead of $129 million. Many of the projects they had wanted to fund with the sales tax would have to be delayed or dropped.

        The 1.3-mill levy for services for the elderly will replace a 1-mill levy that will expire at the end of the year.

        The levy, which would produce $7.9 million a year, would enable the Council on Aging of Southwestern Ohio to maintain Butler County's Elderly Services Program at its present level.

        The program provides services that allow the elderly to remain in their homes instead of having to move into nursing homes. The services include home-delivered meals, house cleaning, grooming and bathing.

        The levy would raise the property taxes of the owner of a $100,000 home by $15 a year.

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