BY STEVE KEMME
The Cincinnati Enquirer
HAMILTON -- The Butler County commissioners have agreed to consider approving a 3.8-mill assessment fee for property owners in the vicinity of the Muhlhauser Road improvement project in Union Township.
The assessment fees would raise $8 million for the project, with residential property owners paying a lower rate than commercial property owners. This assessment would cost the owner of a $100,000 house $15-$17 a year.
Union Township trustees asked the commissioners to hold public hearings for the assessment. The commissioners agreed after they and the trustees agreed on the amount of money needed for the project.
The trustees will draw up a map showing the assessment area, which will be one mile north and south of the portion of Muhlhauser Road that will be improved. After receiving this map, the commissioners will set up public hearings.
The plan calls for Muhlhauser Road to be widened from two to four lanes from Fairfield to International Boulevard, to extend Muhlhauser to Allen Road and to improve the intersection of Muhlhauser and Ohio 747.
Muhlhauser is considered a key piece in a series of major road improvements either planned, under way or completed in the eastern half of Butler. Public officials say the improvements will spur enormous commercial and industrial development in the county. These projects are being managed by the county's Transportation Improvement District (TID), a state-created agency designed to speed up funding for these projects.
"There will not be a highway network anywhere in the state with more developable land with utilities," said Commissioner Mike Fox, who is TID chairman.
The commissioners didn't want to set up public hearings on the assessment until they were sure how much the Muhlhauser Road project would cost.
Gregory Wilkens, TID executive director, assured them last week that $8 million was a "solid estimate."
Union Township doesn't have enough money to finance the Muhlhauser project, the trustees said.
"The township is pretty well tapped out as to what we can legally borrow," Trustee Catherine Stoker said.
