Hamilton County property owners will get a property tax rebate again this year, but less than last year. Commissioners approved the 4.5% rebate Tuesday.
County Administrator Jeff Aluotto recommended the 2026 rebate be smaller than this year's.
“We would prefer to recommend a full PTR [property tax rebate] every single year; however, our primary concern has been ensuring that the county’s general fund — which pays for sheriff’s deputies, election workers, 911 operators — does not ultimately need to support the operations at Paycor Stadium or Great American Ball Park, especially when the general fund is as strained as it is.”
Voters approved a half-cent sales tax in 1996, as part of a stadium deal. That money pays for the debt on the Bengals' and Reds' stadiums, as well as upkeep. Commissioners at the time also promised 30% of the sales tax collections would be sent to property taxpayers as a rebate.
Commissioner Alicia Reece argued taxpayers deserve the full amount because that’s what they were promised.
“We brought all the budget people and experts and all this and said, 'We must keep the commitment to stadiums. We must keep the commitment to nine home games,' ” she says. “But to 200,000 homeowners we say it’s fiscally irresponsible to the people that’s paying the tax.”
Commission President Denise Driehaus says every year the board has to balance the rebate amount with the needs of the stadium fund.
“The current balance in the stadium fund is at a 15-year low,” she says. “A full PTR would essentially drain the balance, bankrupt the fund. We did a full PTR last year and that’s part of the reason we’re in this situation we’re in this year.”
Driehaus says if there isn't enough money for stadium expenses, the difference would have to come from Hamilton County's general fund.
Next year's rebate will draw $5 million from the sales tax collections.
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