Reducing property tax rollback a pain to homeowners

CINCINNATI - For most people, paying more taxes is about as pleasant as a trip to the dentist.

In this case, the "cavity" is a $25 million shortfall over the next two years that needs to be filled to pay for Hamilton County's two sports stadia.

The fix, reducing the property tax rollback that was promised to the taxpayers in exchange for voting for the two complexes, will cover about 80 percent of the bill.

Still, it might feel like oral surgery without the Novocain.

"It does seem very, very unfair," said Madisonville homeowner Thomas Pitts. "I would have thought that there was another answer." 

Pitts says the tax increase won't break his bank.

He's angry--but not surprised-- that the commissioners did what they did.

"A snake is a snake," he said. "So it should come as no surprise that they were going to come back to the trough."

Homeowner Rob Miller, on the other hand, isn't angry at all.

"I am a Bengal fan," he said "So I do get a return on that investment."

Calling Miller a "fan" might be an understatement.

Not many people have their very own Bengals bus, painted with tiger stripes and topped with an Astroturf field and goalposts to take to football games.

He's OK with a rollback on the rollback.

"Bottom line is you'll make one group happy and you'll upset another," he said. "This is fine. We have to fix (the stadia shortfall), we have to keep our sports teams here. It's part of what makes Cincinnati a great place to live."

Miller predicts, however, that the county isn't finished taking us to the dentist.

"Down the road, I think you'll see the sales tax go up anyway," he said.