HAMILTON — The chances of a proposed 40-mile Butler County bike path being funded by county sales tax revenue appear to be slim.

        Two of the three county commissioners said Monday that they rank the bike path low on the list of 31 projects that might be funded by a sales tax increase the commissioners plan to enact be fore the end of the year.

        “I would rather see the money go for roads and other infrastructure projects,” Commissioner Chuck Furmon said.

        Commissioner Courtney Combs has never wanted the $10.6 million bike path project on the list of potential sales tax-funded projects.

        He said he believes other projects are far more important, and that Butler should apply for state and federal funding before committing $9.6 million of county money to a bike path.

        “I'm worried that if we commit to that money, the state won't bother to give us any funding for it,” Mr. Combs said.

        The commissioners will begin on Thursday to assign priorities to their list of projects that might receive sales tax revenue.

        Commissioners are considering enacting a half-cent sales tax for six years and then dropping it a quarter-cent for four years. The increases would generate $129 million over 10 years.

        The list of projects includes many road and bridge improvements, a fiber-optics network in Butler County and an expansion of the But ler County Regional Airport.

        Commissioners already have agreed that the top project on the list is the $90 million Ohio 63 extension. The county would contribute $26.7 million, with the state kicking in the rest. The state hasn't approved funding yet.

        The proposed bike path, called the Miami-2-Miami Connector, would connect to existing bike trails along the Great Miami and the Little Miami rivers.

        Commissioner Mike Fox is an ardent supporter of the bike path — primarily as a vehicle for economic development.

        He views it as a key component in the county's efforts to become one of the Midwest's high-tech business centers. Many studies have shown that recreational amenities such as bike paths appeal to people who own and work at high-tech businesses, he said.

        “If we want to compete for high-tech businesses, we need to have things like this bike path,” Mr. Fox said. “It's a quality-of-life issue.”

        Mike Muska, director of MetroParks of Butler County, said he hopes the bike path stays on the county's sales tax funding list.

        “I wish it would be recognized that projects like this do have great impact on the economic development vitality of a community,” he said.

        Mr. Muska is the county parks' representative on the Butler-Warren Bicycle Coalition, which was formed by West Chester, Liberty and Deerfield townships and the cities of Hamilton, Fairfield and Mason to develop the bike path.

        Mr. Muska said the bike path could be built much faster using only local money and no state or federal funding.

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