Hamilton County must raise property taxes

Hamilton County's fiscal crisis continues to worsen. Under the impressive leadership of County Commissioners David Pepper and Todd Portune, revenues have plunged and now some county bureaucrats are saying the county may have to reduce or eliminate the property tax rollback that was promised to voters when they passed the Stadium Sales Tax increase. Our enemies at COAST feel this is what our Commissioners will do. We at Republicans for Higher Taxes endorse the complete removal of this property tax rollback.

Who cares about some promise that was made in 1996? This is politics, and in politics promises are made to be broken. The government needs that money more than the citizens do. What do you think the government should do, cut spending? That is an entirely unrealistic expectation.

We condemn County Commissioner Greg Hartmann for coming out against this idea. As a Hamilton County Republican he should know better than to ever oppose raising taxes. We have been very disappointed in the fiscal conservatism he has shown as a Clerk of Court and now as a Commissioner. We did not elect him to cut costs, reduce programs, or lower taxes. He was put there to continue our party's dedication to higher taxes and more spending.

If Greg Hartmann will not do the right thing by breaking a promise and raising property taxes, then we encourage David Pepper and Todd Portune to do it themselves. Hamilton County badly needs this property tax increase so they can get back to spending money at an elevated rate.