Republican vs. Republican, Round Two

You may recall Si Leis' letter countering Pat DeWine's letter on the jail tax. Now comes a Pat DeWine letter countering Si Leis' letter countering - uh, where were we?


Dear ...

You may recently have received an email or letter from Sheriff Leis regarding his support for the new sales tax enacted by my Democratic colleagues without a public vote. It's not common practice to attack fellow Republican officeholders and I don't intend to do that. But I do want to respond to the Sheriff's comments.

I certainly appreciate the need to expand the County's jail capacity. Last year I engineered the deal with Butler County that added 400 jail spaces at a cost that is much less than the current proposal - this was the largest increase in County jail space in 15 years. I also worked with Prosecutor Deters and Sheriff Leis to place on the ballot the proposal last year that was ultimately rejected. That proposal would have added the same number of spaces as the current plan, but would have cost $450 million less and been strictly limited to new jail construction

After the plan was defeated by voters at the polls, I put together a plan that would have added new jail space within the existing County budget by keeping our existing facilities open, making cuts in non-essential spending and building the space we need. Unfortunately, the Democratic majority refused to consider any plan except a costly new tax increase.

I believe that any plan must be consistent with Republican principles of limited government and controlled taxation and that the residents of the County must be allowed to vote on the plan.

Early this year, the Sheriff asked me to support the Democrats' tax plan that would include new jail space. I expressed concern about what I had learned regarding their intention to include significant new non- jail county spending in their plan. The Sheriff told me to my face that the Democrats needed to include this new social spending in their plan so that they could win support from liberal elements in their own party, and he asked me to put the tax on without a public vote.

Then, the Sheriff told me that he would campaign against me if I opposed the Democrats' tax hike.

Maybe the easiest thing to do at the time would have been to go along with the Sheriff and my Democratic colleagues and support the plan. But when I ran for the Commission, I said I was running "because our taxes are too high."

There is no way that I could support the plan that the Democrats enacted and remain true to my campaign pledge and Republican principles.

The Sheriff has been consistent in supporting ANY plan that will add jail space no matter the cost. Last year, he supported the proposal of then-candidate David Pepper, John Cranley and other City Council Democrats to build a casino in Over-the-Rhine to fund a new jail. He also supported the proposal that Commissioner Heimlich and I advanced to fund new jail construction for $450 million less than the current plan. As Commissioner, however, I felt I had a broader duty to the public, and couldn't support just any plan without considering the costs.

Now, to the specifics of the current plan. Quite simply, it is misleading to say that the current proposal is just about building a jail. It's not. The numbers don't lie. Of the $777 million their tax will generate only $198 million is slated for jail construction. Fully $92 million goes for new social programs. The rest goes for other new programs, subsidies for local communities, and County operations. The jail operating costs have always been paid for out of the County general fund. And that's the way it should be. As Commissioners, we have an obligation to pay for our County operations out of our existing revenue stream - not go to the taxpayers for a massive tax increase.

Despite its $777 million cost, it is UNDISPUTED that the plan will add fewer than 400 new jail spaces when you take into account the spaces we are currently using in Butler County. And in reality, it will be fewer new spaces than that.

You see, the Democrats have already announced that they intend to lease some of the new spaces to the federal government to house federal prisoners even though the federal government will not reimburse us ANY of the capital costs of the new facility. So the sad reality is that we are undertaking a massive spending plan that will only mean a minimal increase in the number of jail spaces. We'll have nicer space, but not much more.

As Commissioner, I am very concerned about the high rate of taxation in Hamilton County. Already Hamilton County taxpayers pay the second highest county property taxes of all 88 counties in the state, they pay the highest sales taxes in the region, and these taxes are literally driving people out of the County. Enough is enough.

I don't like disagreeing with the Sheriff. But I'm not going to back down on my stance: PEOPLE DESERVE THE RIGHT TO VOTE ON THIS HUGE TAX INCREASE.

Sincerely,

Pat DeWine