Dayton to try to raise income taxes, because there isn’t anything else left to tax
The reason Dayton had the highest tax rate in the county with the exception of Oakwood was because the tax mostly affected people who couldn’t vote for it. Non-resident workers downtown were subjected to a 2.25% income tax, meaning if they lived anywhere else with an income tax, they used to get an exclusion from paying anything under. So only the poor stiffs in Oakwood who worked in Dayton had to shell out the extra .25% to Oakwood.
Now- almost every suburban community is raising to 2.25% since State funding dried up- and some of them have the gall to say, sorry, you still have to pay our income tax, even if you work in Dayton too.
Ouch. So now, Mayor Nan, who can find half a million to buy at least 3 buildings for which there is no public use- and give away huge tax breaks to big corporations like GE and Emerson- says- we need to raise our tax to 2.5% even though they’ve already hit us with a street light tax, a trash and water increase and the police department is running record leand.
The city of Dayton plans to ask voters to approve a 0.25 percent income tax increase that supporters said will help close a projected shortfall, fund police and fire services and pay for universal pre-school.While Dayton voters will decide if the increase takes place, the tax is paid by people who work in the city.If approved, the tax rate would climb to 2.5 percent for a period of eight years.
Source: Dayton to seek income tax increase | www.daytondailynews.com
Folks, remember the big meetings to stop the city/county merger? They were just the warm up act for this mess.
If it weren’t for Caresource downtown adding federally funded jobs like feral cats procreate in South Park- the city would have been broke long ago. Now, you have to wonder- how long will they want to pay that extra .25% on Pam Morris’s $3M a year paycheck? Will they need to move their HQ to Austin Landing too- where only the little people get taxed?
Is there a clause in it that excuses the hike for white collar workers?
We could ditch all 28 municipalities in the county, get rid of the urban township tax havens, have one regional government, and charge a flat 1.5% local income tax and come out way ahead, but then the Monarchy of Montgomery County couldn’t keep their friends and family on the plan. So, let’s raise taxes and make sure that every business left looks to leave.
Its ironic that Mayor Whaley, recently in the DDN, threw prior city administrations under the bus when lambasting the way the city gets stiffed by the county with the convention center. Now, she is the one playing a potentially short-sighted political hand. In the near-term, as younger millennials or empty nesters continue to fill up the new developments in Webster Station, downtown, and rehab homes in historic neighborhoods, she can count on a tax bonanza if this goes thru. For the sake of discussion, the new units at the Water street and by the ballpark (I believe about 450 in total are fully leased and assuming that residents average about a $45k salary a year), could bring in just over $500k alone in new income tax revenue per year. However, long-term, how hard will it be to unwind the tax burden if another administration wanted to? In doing this gambit, she’s tying future council’s hands by becoming more dependent on the fluctuations of income. This is really a major long-term risk by her in banking on leveraging near-term increases in residential income in the city’s core.
On the other hand, and as someone that has children in DPS pre-school, I wholeheartedly endorse the idea of using some of these increases to increase pre-k education for the city youth. In spite of problems with the current board, long-term improving pre-k access is giong to go a long way in improving test scores. I just don’t think an income tax is the best way to do it.
The Whale does not have any qualifications to lead a Girl Scout group let alone a city, especially one on the edge of ruin like Dayton. I have personal knowledge of her workplace background. It has been one of the Whale never working at her selected position and instead delegating work to those who knew how, only to have her come in at the moment of completion to claim credit. She is a shipwreck and her lack of character combined with her complete absence of hard work and preparation behind effective leadership has come home to rest on the backs of the good people of Dayton. It is only going to get worse from here on. Then she will be term-limited out of being Mayor and will take Strickland’s place.
I can see a earnings (no it’s not income) tax increase, to fund city staffing levels and services . But NO WAY IN HELL would I vote for it with the biggest amount going to PreK funding, which research is showing it does not work.
Someone is singing out of the Democrat songbook !!
https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2016/02/04/democrats-love-universal-pre-k-and-dont-seem-to-care-that-it-may-not-work/
I oppose any notion of regional government because it means I would have to share a municipality with (and probably be governed by) the same incompetent Dayton Democrats who pay Steve Rauch to tear down the wrong building, convey $600,000 worth of property by mistake, and exempt 80% of Downtown property from taxes and wonder why there isn’t any tax base left.
Meanwhile Randy Gunlock is laughing all the way to bank as Brady Ware, Thompson Hine, et al moved and saved their employees hundreds of thousands in city income tax they no longer have to pay.
Ill support the suburbs working with each other – Miamisburg and West Carrollton combining dispatch services come to mind – but I wouldn’t touch anything related to Dayton City Hall with a ten foot pole. Dayton city leadership is toxic and a drag on the whole region.
I would sooner us take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.
I was completely blown away when I saw read this announcement in the DDN. WTH? When I visit my friends in Oakwood, I’m so envious of the services they receive for a mere .25% more in income taxes. If passed, which I doubt will happen, it will discourage middle- and higher-income folks from living in Dayton. This will cause the tax base to continually decrease. The population is already declining. Government services need to “shrink” in-line with the population. Alternatively, I would prefer the credit paid to other cities decreased by .25% instead of increasing the tax rate. This just shows how out of touch city government is!
The part about paying the extra on the $3M paycheck – if that person travels they can fill out the refund request form and get part of it back – I work in payroll and have seen many a high earner do that little trick. And for the comment about it being an earnings tax, people who work in Dayton but live elsewhere it is an earnings tax, but those who live in Dayton, it is indeed an income tax. I work in a city where the tax rate is lower and quarterly I have to pay the difference.