HAMILTON — If Butler County voters approve the quarter-cent sales tax increase for public transportation on Nov. 6, it would reduce the money available for major road improvements and other projects the county commissioners hope to fund with a sales tax increase of their own.

        The commissioners are considering enacting a half-cent sales tax hike for six years and dropping it to a quarter-cent for four years. That would generate $129 million over 10 years.

        But if the five-year sales tax increase for the Butler County Regional Transit Authority passes, the commissioners would increase the sales tax no more than a quarter-cent. A half-cent increase would give Butler the highest sales tax in the Tristate.

        “I have no desire to be the leader in taxes,” Commissioner Mike Fox said.

        The commissioners would lose almost $50 million in potential sales tax revenue if they scale back their increase from a half-cent for six years and a quarter-cent for four years to a quarter-cent for 10 years.

        “It basically will limit our ability to do some of the things we've identified as important,” Mr. Fox said. “There will be some very important projects that will have to wait or not be funded if the transit tax is approved.”

        After its quarter-cent sales tax increase was voted down in May, the transit authority eliminated Dial-A-Ride and retained its fixed routes and park-and-ride lots.

        If voters reject the transit sales tax in November, the fixed routes will be gone by Jan. 1 and the transit authority will dissolve by July 1, said Amy Terango, the transit authority's general manager.

        To avoid jeopardizing the transit sales tax issue and school and community levies on the November ballot, the commissioners have agreed to wait until after the election to enact a sales tax increase.

        The commissioners have committed $26.7 million in sales tax revenue to the proposed Ohio 63 extension. That would leave about $53 million for the other 30 projects on the list.

        But Ms. Terango said the transit authority could fund some of the commissioners' 31 projects with its sales tax revenue.

        “It's not an either-or proposition,” she said. “Many of the projects on the commissioners' list can be funded as transit projects.”

        After declining to say whether he supports the transit tax, Commissioner Chuck Furmon criticized the transit program.

        “My own feeling is that it's difficult to justify the sales tax increase with all the empty buses I see going around,” he said.

        Ms. Terango disputed Mr. Furmon's contention that the buses have few riders.

        The transit system has 32,000 riders a month, and that figure has been rising in recent months, she said.

        Despite the problems the transit sales tax increase could cause for the commissioners' projects, Mr. Fox and Commissioner Courtney Combs say they support it.

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