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May ballot to include Waynesville income tax referendum

Losing the vote will stop Waynesville council from enacting tax again.

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By Justin McClelland, Staff Writer 4:24 PM Tuesday, February 2, 2010

WAYNESVILLE — A showdown over whether to install a 1 percent income tax here will come to a head on the May 4 ballot.

Village council unanimously approved Monday, Feb. 2, the placement of a referendum vote over the income tax it installed in December. The vote was a formality as a petition signed by 140 residents had already been deemed as appropriate by the Warren County Board of Elections. Council was legally bound to approve the placement of the referendum vote on the ballot.

Council first imposed the 1 percent income tax to help dig the village out of the state fiscal emergency it has been in since 2008. The tax was projected to raise $178,000 annually to pay for deficits in key areas of the budget, particularly the road and street repair fund.

The income tax was shot down by voters in the November election with 68 percent turning it down, but council still had the authority to enact it themselves. Losing the referendum vote will stop council from enacting the tax again.

“It’s a challenge,” said council member Charles Feicht, who said he wasn’t surprised about the referendum vote.

Feicht said that council had done a poor job in informing the public about the reasons the tax was necessary.

“The challenge is to inform,” Feicht said. “We’ve got to do that. We need to explain what the tax means.”

The five-year income tax would apply to any income earned within the village. The tax comes with a 100 percent credit for individuals who live in Waynesville but work and pay municipal tax in other cities. The tax is not applicable to Social Security or retirement income.

Village Manager Bruce Snell briefly discussed Monday repair needs for the city’s street maintenance facility, but advised council to hold off on any decisions regarding the plant until after the referendum vote because he said he didn’t know how the village could afford it if the tax is overturned.

Contact this reporter at (513) 696-4544 or jmcclelland@coxohio.com.

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What has changed in the past 17 years? A village manager was hired. A new government building was constructed. Has the business base increased? NO! Has the housing base increased? NO! Eliminate the village manager. Sell the government building. Debt reduced!

just a thought
12:43 PM, 2/11/2010

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First of all, I don't want Waynesville people to pay more. The taxes, for the most part, are already being paid. They're just going to other towns.

Again, Boss Hogg and Mr. P should go clean Lebanon toilets instead of sending village money elsewhere.

'm no accountant, but I can't buy your premise that the village can lawfully erase the debt and deficit with an accounting gimmick. If so, the state and finance review committee would have proposed that.

Fix the debt w/o prop taxes.

You've got to be kidding
8:42 PM, 2/9/2010

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This is straight from the state auditor's website on the fiscal emergency of THE VILLAGE:
Conclusion: A fiscal emergency condition does not exist under Ohio Revised Code Section
118.03(A)(1). No default on any debt obligation for more than thirty days existed at February 29, 2008.
Note the emergency DOES NOT EXIST due to default of debt. The whole story poster wants to scare you. They want you to pay more taxes to continue waste. READ THE REPORT
the truth
4:45 PM, 2/7/2010

read it again
8:26 PM, 2/9/2010

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You are the one that said the state put us in fiscal emergenct because of debt..AGAIN YOU ARE WRONG. You use the debt angle to scare people. Waynesville people maybe be blind to your tactics but look at your posts...the issue addressed is the debt...once again confuse and scare the masses into paying into a system that simply could re-arrange itself and not have any financial problems

the prolbem is you cant read
8:25 PM, 2/9/2010

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So no one from the state says that Waynesville is in Fiscal Emergency? There have been no state auditors, no state mandated review committee? All that's been a hoax?

Absolutely crazy. It would be funny if you turned this village into a run down version of Corwin, except that the rest of us will suffer as well.

The debt is real and the solution is simply to stop funding other cities with village income. Boss Hogg/MrP want power and some you just want to hate. The combo is a village killer.

You've got to be kidding
8:12 PM, 2/9/2010

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