Council approves money for refunds

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

Those who overpaid Van Wert city income taxes for the last eight years are getting refunds.

Monday night, Mayor Ken Markward told members of Van Wert City Council that 1,370 city residents are due refunds totaling approximately $405,000. After hearing that, council unanimously approved a supplemental appropriation of $410,000 to cover the amount owed.

“They’re not going to get a check in tomorrow’s mail, but this can be the next step in getting things moving,” the mayor said. “It will take them a while to print up a thousand checks and send them out. They’ll do a batch, mail them and do another batch and mail them so it’ll take awhile, but they want to start on that as soon as they can.”

The overpayment issue goes back to September of 2017, when members of council at the time doubled the tax credit from 25 to 50 percent for city residents who worked elsewhere and paid income taxes to other municipalities. It was done with the intention it would be rescinded if an income tax increase that was on the ballot that fall failed. The proposed tax increase failed, but council never formally passed legislation to drop the credit back down to 25 percent. Council took care of that problem Monday night, approving legislation reducing the credit to 25 percent.

Police Chief Doug Weigle addressed council about Flock cameras that have been installed at eight entrance locations around the city and he tried to clear up misinformation about what the cameras can and can’t do.

“They do not register speed, they cannot run your license plates, they cannot get your personal information, they can only identify different items on the vehicle,” he explained. “All this stuff about ‘we’re going to get people for expired plates’ – that’s not true because they can’t even run the plate in the system that tells you if the plate is expired. We can enter things in the system and say ‘look for this plate’ but it cannot run it, it can’t get into what we call NCIC or LEADS.”

He also said the system doesn’t store personal information because it’s can’t get it, and he refuted rumors the system is easily hacked.

“They have never been hacked and even they do, they can’t get anybody’s personal information because it doesn’t have personal information,” Weigle said. 

He said the Flock cameras can help locate vehicles, and he also said a live camera will be installed at Fountain Park.

As expected, a number of routine year-end financial transfers were given approval. On third and final reading, council approved the annexation of property at the southeast corner of Woodland Ave. and John Brown Rd., plus a separate ordinance for fire protection agreements with Pleasant and Hoaglin townships. The annexation of just over 128 acres of property north of U.S. 30 in Pleasant Township, owned by The Marsh Foundation, was approved as an emergency on first reading.

The city’s 2026 budget had its second reading and is expected to be formally approved at the next meeting.

Dawn Kennedy and Juli Hamilton, owners of Artful Kitchen Collective on E. Main St. addressed council on their new venture.

Van Wert City Council’s final meeting of 2025 will be held at 6:30 p.m. Monday, December 22, in Council Chambers on the second floor of the Municipal Buidling, 515 E. Main St.