Council OKs temporary appropriations

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

Van Wert City Council met for the next to last time this year, with mostly last-minute appropriations and transfers forthcoming at Council’s last meeting of the year on Monday, December 28 — although appointments are also needed for a city board.

Mayor Don Farmer took the opportunity Monday to indicate his intention to make two appointments to city boards.

The mayor notified Council members that he is appointing Paul Hoverman to the Van Wert Board of Tax Review, an entity that hears city income tax appeals, and Bill Marshall to the Design Review Board, an organization that makes decisions on what are appropriate building changes in the downtown area.

In addition to Hoverman, City Council must make two other appointments to the Board of Tax Review. A committee meeting is scheduled for December 28 to finalize those appointments prior to the first of the year.

The city needs to make new appointments to the Board of Tax Review because of changes in state law to make the board less political in makeup. Formerly, members of the board included three elected city officials — the mayor, auditor, and law director — as well as the city tax administrator. However, those officials now only serve as advisors to the board.

In legislative action taken Monday, Council unanimously adopted the city’s temporary appropriations ordinance for the first three months of 2016 (a permanent appropriations measure is adopted prior to April 1), while reading three salary ordinances for the second time.

The salary measures will be up for final approval at the December 28 meeting.

City Council did, however, include language in the salary ordinance dealing with the safety-service director to ensure that the fact Safety-Service Director Jay Fleming will not be taking longevity pay this year or in subsequent years is noted in the ordinance itself.

Fleming has already agreed to the stipulation as part of a retire-rehire agreement approved by City Council.

Also Monday, Fleming noted that work on a sewer project along John Brown Road is proceeding and should be completed sometime this week.

“We’ve been very thankful for the spring-like weather we’ve been experiencing,” Fleming said. “It’s been a big help.”

During his report, Mayor Farmer stated that city income tax revenues increased $32,824 in November, with collections in the first 11 months of the year up $241,472 over 2014.

Law Director John Hatcher also talked about efforts his office is making to collect unpaid taxes, noting that tax payments are starting to come in to the city from delinquent taxpayers, with more payments due in the coming year.

Council President Ken Mengerink noted prior to elected official and committee reports that he had received a request from Jon Rhoades of the Community Improvement Corporation (CIC) for funding in the coming year. Mengerink forwarded that request on to Council’s Finance Committee for action at the final Council meeting in December.

Mengerink also said he received a letter from the city economic development advisory group that included concerns about how the city’s economic development agency is being reorganized.

That letter was assigned to the Judiciary and Annexation Committee for discussion in 2016.