The Cincinnati Enquirer A portion of every taxable item sold in Hamilton County may someday help pay for a portion of an expanded convention center. Hamilton County commissioners have asked lobbyists to look into whether there is any support for the state granting the county a sales-tax credit to help pay for an expansion of the Dr. Albert B. Sabin Cincinnati Convention Center. A similar credit is being used to help fund a portion of the Newport Aquarium in Northern Kentucky. Mr. Dowlin has enlisted the help of two lobbyists, Larry Long at the County Commissioners Association of Ohio and Phil Craig of the Ohio Association of Convention and Visitor Bureaus. Right now, we're in the embryonic stage of that process.
More ideas are always welcome.
Other plans for funding the expansion have included an increase in the local hotel tax, the creation of a new restaurant tax and the sale of the convention center's naming rights to a corporation. Mr. Dowlin, who opposes the idea of using the general-revenue fund to expand the convention center, said he hopes the lure of more tourism dollars will be enough to sell the sales tax credit idea to lawmakers. The state sales tax is 5 percent. Counties have permission to add to the tax and keep the extra proceeds. In Hamilton County, for example, the sales tax is 6 percent.