What is the best course forward? 
 
Are Huber Heights residents interested in a town hall or internet discussion on this issue?
 
Prior to Feb 5th City council will likely vote to place a tax levy on the ballot for May. The only General Session meeting schedule before then will be held Jan 27th. Now is the time to become informed on the issues that makes council believe this is the best way forward.  It is also the time to provide your input on this issue. 
 
I always strongly recommend gathering information prior to offering an opinion and although the deadlines are approaching rapidly I still think this is the best method.  
 
In case you missed it, previously the administration committee meeting that directly followed the election contained an agenda item 2014 City Budget.  Interestingly, the minutes from that meeting have not been posted online yet.  But from memory, that discussion generally concentrated on the fact that the city has had to draw on the General Fund reserve over the last few years in order to supplement the revenues the city receives.  In simpler words the city has been spending more money than it has been taking in and using reserve funds to do it.  This has been going on a few years and next year's budget shows the need to withdraw $2.1 million more from the reserve fund.  At the present rate the General Fund will be empty sometime in 2015.
 
At the Nov 25th council meeting the city tasked the city manager to find a professional survey / consulting firm to help judge Huber Heights Resident's knowledge.  You can see my previous posting on this here. 
 
Items that I believe are important to discuss during the drafting of the levy and preceding the May 6th election include:
 
1.  Is a levy necessary?
2.  Is an increase in taxes necessary?
3.  To what degree would an increase in taxes strain our economic development? How do we mitigate the strain?
4.  Property tax or Income tax
5.  How high?
 
Each of these topics have many different subtopics which I hope come out and are discussed.  Let me know if you are interested in learning more about this issue and what format you would like to have that discussion.  It will take a lot of work if we want to provide input to city council prior to when they need to vote on the issue if they are going to make the Feb 5 deadline for ballot measures.  


Note: Comments made by registered users are posted immediately, other posts require me to discover they have been made and then validate. 

My Facebook page has additional comments that I added:  https://www.facebook.com/thomas.mcmasters.5 

Also the Facebook group Everything Huber Heights has a discussion going. 

Here are some of the post from my Facebook page - Slightly edited.

Facebook Friend;  What are the differences between the two please?
 
Thomas McMasters  Property taxes are assessed against the value of your; land, house, commercial property etc. (Wonder how TIF collections work for a new levy like this? me too.). Income taxes are collected against the pay people receive for going to work. Statements by city staff tell us that 70% of the money collected from the current income tax is paid for by people that work in the city but don't live here. The thought is an income tax is more likely to pass because people are willing to vote yes to raise other people's taxes. In either case the objective will be to raise about the same amount - although that amount has not been firmly established (this year's shortfall is currently estimated to be $2.1 million dollars).
 
Council Friend; Adding in my two-cents here. To my knowledge, City Council does not have ballot language or any corresponding intent to place a tax levy of any kind on the May ballot. I do not see any materials that indicate that such work will be done for Committee this Wednesday or for public vote next Monday. I also do not believe that any Special Public Sessions will be called to have such a vote occur before the Feb. 5th deadline. Accordingly, while I could be shown differently, I do not think City Council will be placing a levy on the May 2014 ballot. If you have any firm information to the contrary, I would be interested in seeing/hearing it. Otherwise, I believe any possible levy will come in November 2014. Again, my own two-cents here.
 
Thomas McMasters One part of the contract with the "Impact Group" is for that company to assemble three focus groups, two Citizens groups and one community leaders and influencers. Thursday representatives of the Impact Group met with city staff, four council members and the mayor (me). It was my intention to ask if this meeting was in compliance with the Sunshine provisions of ORC. However, the city manager started the meeting by announcing that this did not have to be announced in advance or advertised to the public because the purpose of the meeting was in conjunction with the terms of the contract with the Impact Group and this meeting was called by that company. Although, there would be a lot of work required in order to decide on the details of the levy in order to get the resolution for a ballot measure passed and delivered to the board of elections prior to Feb 5th. The general consensus is this is the best course of action. Additionally, the expectation is that the School Board will likely have a property tax on the ballot in November. There is some concern about having both measures on the ballot at the same time. (note I accidently hit enter before completing this paragraph so the email below was written before the portion that follows "Although" was completed.)
 
 
Council Friend; Tom, as you know, I did not attend that meeting. I have no knowledge of the facts you assert, nor do I have a personal opinion on the concerns you raise. Nevertheless, I do not see the correlation of your statements to the fact that, as I understand it, the City Council will not be placing a tax levy on the ballot in May 2014.
 
Thomas McMasters  I added more content to the post above your comment. It will be interesting to see when the levy is placed on the ballot. I personally don't think council can get through all the work that needs to be done in order to make sure a May ballot initiative is well conceived. However, I don't believe it will wait until November either.
 
Thomas McMasters Additionally, if the intent is May and the public is going to provide input then we need to ask for that input now.
 
Council Friend; I have reviewed the additional content. I stand by my comments that I do not know of any discussions held by the City Council or a committee thereof specifically deciding to put a levy on the May ballot. I also do not know of any agenda items on any committees that are intended to discuss such an action before next Monday's Regular Public Session, nor have I been asked or heard any discussion about holding any Special Public Sessions before Feb. 5th. Of course, I will wait to see how things develop over the next few weeks.
 
Thomas McMasters I accept your statement as fact. However, the wording of my original posting was chosen specifically because there has not been any meeting held specifically deciding to put a levy on the May ballot.

Here is what I'm looking at that makes me believe that seeking public input now is necessary.

Unfortunately, the minutes from the Nov 19, 2013 Administration committee meetings have not yet been published online but if you recall from that meeting the discussion about the City Budget focused mainly on the need for additional revenue. As a result of that meeting council decided to task the city manager with finding a firm to assist in getting that message out to the public with the objective of having this accomplished by the May election. When that tasking was presented as legislation in the Nov 25, 2013 the objective had changed slightly so that the task became To Assist And Advise The City With Regard To The Impacts And Effects Of The Economic Forecasting Of The City Over The Next Several Years. The result was a contract with the "Impact group". I was the only council member to ask the City Manager for a copy of the contract when it became available so I am unaware if you received it separately. And I don't know if you are aware that the contract requires the focus groups and survey be complete and delivered to the city by the third week in January. This delivery date would be consistent with an intention of using the results to make a decision on the issues surrounding a levy in order to meet the deadline for the May ballot. The chance of a poor product because of the haste to meet such an early delivery date also would make it unwise unless we absolutely needed the information this early.

I personally believe council members will be well served by a professionally prepared survey designed to judge public sentiment. Additionally, I believe direct communication with the residents before the details of a levy are decided makes sense as well. Therefore, I believe it is important that we seek that feedback now and welcome your suggestions on the best way to get it quick enough so that resident feedback can be useful to council should council decide to try for the May ballot.

Facebook Friend; Do the people that own property here already pay an Huber Heights Income tax? as well as property tax?

Thomas McMasters For city income tax, owning property does not trigger income tax obligations.
 
Thomas McMasters Residency can trigger the obligation to pay income tax and working in the city does trigger the income tax. And yes a person can owe both an income tax and the property tax. It would take a couple of paragraphs to detail how city income tax, school income tax, city property tax, school property tax and other property tax all relate. Then we have to complicate it even further by talking about TIF districts. (See ORC Chapter 718: Municipal Income Taxes)

Thomas McMasters For a normal Montgomery county Huber Heights Resident when they pay their property tax most of the it goes to the schools (about 62%), some of it goes to the county, and a small portion goes to the city (about 7%). Of course if we chose to vote in a new city property tax levy then the percentages would change.  (Look for your property on the Montgomery County Treasurers page then select Tax Levy Distribution - note this page was down this morning when I wrote this)
 
Thomas McMasters The local income tax the Montgomery county portion of Huber Heights pays all goes to the city. Residents only pay this to Huber Heights if the city where they work doesn't have a local income tax. People that work in the city pay all their local income tax to Huber Heights (mostly true). (See Huber Heights city code and search for: 191.16 Credit for tax  paid to another municipality or JEDD)

Thomas McMasters Bethel school district has a school income tax so the Huber Heights residents that live in Miami county pay an income tax to Bethel schools. This income tax is base solely on living in the school district. It is not collected because someone works there.
 
Thomas McMasters The Miami County residents of Huber Heights also pay city income taxes base first on where they work and then on where they live

Thomas McMasters TIF districts complicate the formula's and decision making process even further

Thomas McMasters There is a possibility that this is how it works (which means I wish an expert would let us know). If we pass a new property tax then in the TIF districts most of the increase the property owners will end up paying will not go into the new tax. Instead it will be diverted into the TIF funds. Right now almost all of the Properties on Executive Blvd all the way to Gander Mtn are in the Montgomery County TIF. All of Carriage trails is in the Miami county TIF.  (See Ohio Revised Code Sections 5709.40 to 5709.43)