$1 million for an election?

Update below

Jessica Brown reports:

The Enquirer reported today that Todd Portune wants a sales tax vote in August.

Now it turns out that could cost taxpayers $1 million, according to County Commissioner Pat DeWine.

Voters defeated the sales tax measure in November. But Hamilton County Commissioner Todd Portune says the jail likely can’t be built without this tax. He wants to rework the proposal and change state law to allow an Aug. 28 special election on the issue. Law currently allows tax issues to appear on the ballot only in primary or general elections.

DeWine, the lone Republican commissioner, opposes the move.

“It is simply wrong to spend over $1 million in taxpayers’ money in a transparent attempt to reduce voter turnout,” he said.

The last four special elections in Hamilton County averaged a 30 percent voter turnout rate, he said.

“This is nothing more than an attempt to circumvent the democratic process by deliberately putting this on the ballot when people will least notice it,” he said.

The third commissioner, David Pepper, sides with Portune. The county is currently spending millions from its reserve funds to house prisoners in Butler County and is running out of money, he said.

“If there’s a proposal that’s ready I support doing it sooner rather than later,” Pepper said. “There’s a level of crisis that Pat perhaps doesn’t appreciate.”

Updated 6 p.m.

Portune says the county would have spent nearly $1 million anyway had they decided to put the issue on the May ballot. He estimated it would have cost $850,000. So cost isn’t really the issue, he said. Commissioners decided not to pursue a May vote because there were too many proposal details still to be ironed out.