{"id":82667,"date":"2016-12-15T08:06:41","date_gmt":"2016-12-15T13:06:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=82667"},"modified":"2016-12-16T09:18:42","modified_gmt":"2016-12-16T14:18:42","slug":"city-council-to-place-income-tax-increase-on-may-ballot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2016\/12\/15\/city-council-to-place-income-tax-increase-on-may-ballot\/","title":{"rendered":"City Council to place tax levy on ballot"},"content":{"rendered":"

DAVE MOSIER\/<\/strong>independent editor<\/em><\/p>\n

With revenues dwindling and expenses increasing, Van Wert City Council members were unanimous in deciding to place an income tax levy on the May primary election ballot for the first time in at least 16 years.<\/p>\n

\"This
This slide shows the decline in tangible personal property taxes over the last decade.<\/strong> Dave Mosier\/Van Wert independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The decision made at a Finance Committee meeting Wednesday follows several warnings by City Auditor Martha Balyeat that the city could see a General Fund budget shortfall in 2017 even if .22-percent Safety Capital Tax funds are used. After Balyeat warned that Van Wert could see a General Fund shortfall of $1 million in 2017, Council authorized the use of two-thirds of the .22-percent income tax — approximately $600,000 — to help reduce the proposed General Fund deficit.<\/p>\n

However, even with .22-percent tax revenues, and using $100,000 in real estate taxes to pay police and fire pension payments, the city was looking at a $300,000 General Fund shortfall next year.<\/p>\n

That led to a decision by City Council to amend the 2016 city budget to allow use of .22-percent Safety Capital Tax money this year to generate a larger carryover so the city can meet next year\u2019s General Fund needs.<\/p>\n

Balyeat noted that, while the use of .22-percent tax money takes care of the city\u2019s immediate budget problems, doing so significantly impacts police and fire capital equipment purchases, which was the reason the tax was approved by voters in the first place.<\/p>\n

The city auditor, who said she opposed use of.22-percent tax money to pay for police and firefighter salaries and benefits, added that the measure was put in place as a temporary solution to city General Fund woes related to the 2008 recession, not a permanent fix for General Fund shortfalls.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was never meant for that purpose,\u201d Balyeat told Council.<\/p>\n

The current city General Fund problems stem from reductions in state funding, including the elimination of the tangible personal property and estate taxes by the Ohio General Assembly, and reduction in local government funds, which are less than half of what they were. Those actions by Ohio Governor John Kasich and the General Assembly have cut as much as $800,000 in state funding from the General Fund.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is how Governor Kasich got all the money for the state,\u201d Balyeat said.<\/p>\n

In addition, because of the recession, interest rates on investments have been nearly non-existent over the last few years, with most investments generating less than 1 percent interest. The one exception is the Van Wert Municipal Court bonds issued to pay for renovations at the current court site, Balyeat said, which the city self-funded and which generates 4 percent interest.<\/p>\n

The General Fund shortfalls have also hurt the city\u2019s ability to purchase needed equipment and to maintain the Municipal Building and other city-owned property, Balyeat added, noting that a new roof is needed on the building, as well as replacement of the building\u2019s HVAC system, which is the original system from when the structure was built more than 40 years ago.<\/p>\n

The auditor said there isn\u2019t much \u201cwiggle room\u201d to cut costs in the General Fund either, since the bulk of the fund is used for police and fire department expenses. She also noted that city employees\u2019 salaries have not increased all that much in the past several years, while a substantial portion of healthcare increases have been passed on to city employees in the form of increased deductibles and out-of-pocket payouts, as well as higher contributions by city workers.<\/p>\n

Safety-Service Director Jay Fleming said use of the .22-percent Safety Capital Tax also needs to stop because it is negatively impacting the purchase of police and fire equipment — something he tried to correct when he became safety-service director.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy fear is that, if we keep going \u2026 in 15 years we\u2019re going to fall back into that (situation) where everything is going to need replaced again,\u201d he said. The fire department had 30- and 40-year-old fire trucks when Fleming was hired, which is the reason the .22-percent tax was put in place.<\/p>\n

Balyeat did touch on other problems within the city\u2019s demographics, which include a lower median income than many area communities and a significant drug problem, as well as an aging population. Those issues have also impacted city services, increasing EMS runs to record levels and Municipal Court docket numbers as well.<\/p>\n

She said the city\u2019s budget-related problems are not unique, while also noting that the city’s base 1-percent income tax hasn’t been increased since 1974, although a half-percent income tax was approved in 1997 for street repairs only, and the\u00a0.22-percent income tax for safety department capital purchases added in 2000. The amendment of the .22-tax to allow use of two-thirds of the revenues for police and fire salaries and benefits was approved in 2010.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not alone,\u201d Balyeat said. \u201cMunicipalities all over the state of Ohio are in the same position that we are.\u201d<\/p>\n

Councilman At-Large Jon Tomlinson said city officials also must create an effective levy campaign to make sure Van Wert residents are fully aware of the city\u2019s financial position.<\/p>\n

Increasing the city income tax 0.28 percent would cost $140 a year for those who earn $50,000, while those who earn $90,000 would pay an additional $250 a year.<\/p>\n

Council will now have legislation prepared at its December 28 meeting to place a levy on the May ballot. Ballot language would then need to be prepared by Law Director John Hatcher to meet the February deadline for May ballot issues. While the legislation would be read three times to allow for public comment, it would also be prepared as an emergency so it could go into effect immediately upon passage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DAVE MOSIER\/independent editor With revenues dwindling and expenses increasing, Van Wert City Council members were unanimous in deciding to place an income tax levy on the May primary election ballot for the first time in at least 16 years. The decision made at a Finance Committee meeting Wednesday follows several warnings by City Auditor Martha […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-82667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-02 09:19:27","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82667","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82667"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82667\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}