Cincinnati residents may vote on a new ticket tax this fall to help cover operating costs at two of the city’s stadiums.
The tax would vary depending on how much the city spends on the stadium every year, according to local reports. Backers said the tax would be calculated every February. If there is no deficit in the city’s stadium fund, there would be no tax.
The initiative is being pushed by a group known as Citizens League Against Subsidized Sports, or CLASS Action Cincinnati. Hamilton County Commissioner Todd Portune is one of the founders.
The group’s goal is to “restore fiscal sanity to the relationship between professional teams and the communities that host them,” it said. The county pays $10 million annually to cover stadium costs.
“Our purpose is to prevent the citizens of Hamilton County from being hit with additional real estate or sales taxes,” the CLASS website says. “They can’t afford simply to subsidize the millionaires who own and operate Cincinnati’s professional teams.”
Supporters need to collect 7,468 signatures by Sept. 9 to get the question on the ballot. If they fail, Portune would aim for the May 2012 ballot, local reports said.
