HAMILTON — In a last-ditch attempt to salvage Butler County's public transit system, the agency operating it will ask the county commissioners for $2.8 million.

        That's how much the Butler County Regional Transit Authority needs to supplement $1.9 million from other revenue sources to continue operating a transit system through next year.

        With voters' rejection of the quarter-cent sales tax increase for public transit on Tuesday, the Transit Authority Board decided Wednesday to go to the commissioners for money.

        If the commissioners refuse, the board will eliminate fixed bus routes on Jan. 1 and will cease all operations by July 1. During the next eight months, all 62 full-time employees would be laid off.

        “We owe it to the ridership and the community to give it one last shot,” said James Mueller, board president.

        The Transit Authority had hoped to expand services with the $40 million over five years that the sales tax increase would have provided.

        But voters rejected it, 35,244 to 32,098, or 52 percent to 48 percent — the tax initiative's second defeat this year.

        Liberty and West Chester townships, two fast-growing and increasingly upscale areas, voted heavily against the sales tax increase. In Liberty, 3,026 voted against it and 1,378 voted for it. In West Chester, 6,739 voted against it and 4,047 voted for it.

        “Liberty and West Chester townships were the deciding factors in this election,” said Amy Terango, general manager of the Transit Authority.

        After the sales tax increase was defeated in May, the Transit Authority stopped offering Dial-A-Ride, a curb-to-curb, on-demand service.

        On Wednesday, the board looked at three budget options for next year:

        • A $3.5 million operating and capital budget for the current level of services.

        • A $4.8 million budget with Dial-A-Ride added.

        • A $5.3 million budget for a program of almost exclusively Dial-A-Ride services.

        The board decided on the $4.8 million because it felt the cheapest option didn't serve enough people to make it worthwhile.

        Commissioner Mike Fox said he doesn't want to leave the elderly, the developmentally disabled and people with medical needs without transportation options.

        “They are a high-priority population,” he said.

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