The Cincinnati Enquirer

HAMILTON - A tax levy to operate "The Shuttle," the city's new bus service, likely will be placed on the March 2 ballot.

City Council has talked about a 0.5-mill levy to generate about $400,000 annually for the service, which began operating in October.

"The Shuttle" runs only three days a week. It replaced "The Blast," the Hamilton-Fairfield-Oxford service that ended last December after Butler County voters rejected a transit sales tax increase.

City Council has asked the County Auditor's Office for the exact amount a 0.5-mill levy would produce. Revenues from the tax would provide matching funds needed by the Butler County Regional Transit Authority to operate the Hamilton-only system.

The city must put the transit levy on the ballot because the Transit Authority cannot put a tax levy on the ballot only for Hamilton, says Mike Samoviski, city manager.

Council is expected to approve the levy at a special meeting on Dec. 8. Council also has scheduled a public hearing on the city's 2004 budget at that session.