VW City Council OKs 2016 tax budget

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

Van Wert City Council discussed an annexation request from a local property owner and also approved the city tax budget for 2016 during its regular meeting on Monday.

Council gave its unanimous preliminary approval to the annexation of 1.089 acres of land into the city. The property in question is a strip mall building that houses Van Wert Bedrooms, The Bridge, Brewed Expressions’ café and Emme Lu’s pet grooming business.

The request will now go to the Van Wert County Board of Commissioners for its approval and then back to City Council for its final sign-off on the annexation.

Council also took action to require city residents to use biodegradable leaf bags and gave approval to legislation allowing Safety-Service Director Jay Fleming to move forward with plans for the 2016 South Washington Street reconstruction project, which will run from Fox Road to Ervin Road and include installation of new water and sewer lines. The city’s share of the project will be approximately $2.82 million and will come from the Street Construction Fund.

Fleming also noted that the Ohio Department of Transportation has approved bridge abutment replacement on Jefferson Street, but the project won’t likely begin until 2019. The safety-service director said the good news is that the state would fund 95 percent of the project, instead of its usual 80 percent, since turnpike revenues would be used to fund the project.

City Council also heard positive financial news from Mayor Don Farmer and Auditor Martha Balyeat. The mayor noted that income tax collections were up again in June, with the city up approximately $173,600 over last year at this time.

The auditor noted that the city has taken in approximately $10,000 more than what is has spent this year, which is a positive, since projections were that the city would spend more than it generated this year, which would have meant dipping into the city’s reserve fund to pay expenses.

“I think we’re a little bit ahead of projections,” Balyeat told Council.

That’s a positive when the city has lost considerable revenues from inheritance taxes — $300,000 to $400,000 overall — and stands to lose more state revenues from future cuts in Local Government Funds.

The city auditor also urged Council members who have not yet taken public records training to do so before their term of office is up. She noted that a training session will be conducted at Wright State University-Lake Campus in Celina on August 13, while training is also available online at Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine’s website.

Council also approved a then-and-now certificate for invoices from legal firm Clemons Nelson totaling nearly $10,000 for legal work the firm did for Van Wert Police Department.

Council members also looked at a request for D-1 and D-2 liquor licenses from Hong Kong Buffet.