Monday, August 27, 2012
New construction the start of the Tree City's renaissance
After a few years of staying relatively flat, Kent’s income taxes are steadily rising in 2012. City income taxes are up 5.5 percent, or about $261,000, more in May 2012 than they were in May 2011. “We’re saying we’re doing better than a year that also was a year of recovery,” Finance Director Dave Coffee said. The city’s total income tax collections were up about 2.5 percent in 2011 over 2010. Coffee thinks the city will finish the year with about $400,000 more than expected. “That again would be better than a 5 percent increase, which we’ll certainly take in these economic times,” Coffee said. “Everything’s relative in size. The city of Kent’s overall budget is not that big to begin with so $100,000 here, (or) $100,000 there is a …
This summer, Patch examined income tax data from 18 Northeast Ohio communities to gauge their recovery from the recession
The "Great Recession" ended in June 2009 by most accounts. Yet many Northeast Ohio communities battle its effects today. For most municipalities, how the needle reads on their "recovery gauge" depends in large part on income tax revenue — the primary cash source for streets, police and other city services. This summer, Patch requested income tax data from 18 Northeast Ohio communities to see where the needle stands on their recovery gauge. Patch intern Nicole Stempak spent seven weeks culling the data and conducting interviews with finance directors, mayors and economic development directors. Her goal was to try and determine the health of your Patch town's economy three years out of the Great Recession. Some are college towns. Others are …
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Recovery Gauge: Patch towns' income tax receipts tell a story of a post-recession rebound
Seventeen out of 18 Patch towns saw a decline in income tax revenue from 2008 to 2012. Avon, the only city to see growth, has been experiencing a boom the past decade as more farmland is developed for residential and commercial use. Despite the growth, the city’s income taxes grew from $8.8 million to $10.2 million — collection totals on the lower end compared with other Patch town revenues. And while other Patch communities saw a decline, not all their income tax receipts fell to the same degree, and not all at the same time. It’s difficult to directly compare income tax revenues in Mentor to say Mayfield Heights or Westlake because, frankly, each city is fundamentally different. Each Patch town, like most towns in Ohio, has different …
Recovery Gauge: Patch towns' income tax receipts tell a story of a post-recession rebound
Increases in withholdings taxes in communities like Stow are a good sign in a post-recession world, because that means more money is being paid to people working in Stow. And that’s key because businesses, employees and cities are relying on each other in order to grow and recover. “If you don’t have people working, they’re not going to have income taxes,” said Jack Kleinhenz, principal and chief economist of Kleinhenz & Associates in Cleveland and adjunct professor of economics at Case Western Reserve University’s Weatherhead School of Management. “They’re not going to be able to use retailers or services that are provided in the community. “If you don’t have income taxes, or even the ability to pay for property taxes, you’re not going to…
Recovery Gauge: Patch towns' income tax receipts tell a story of a post-recession rebound
The good news is income tax revenue is up for all Patch towns. The bad news has nothing to do with income tax and, instead, comes in the form of cuts in financial support that flows from the state through the county down to cities. “I’d love to be able to have that income tax increase and have that at least stayed the same in which case we’d have real net gains,” said Dave Coffee, finance director for Kent. “But because of that, we’re still backsliding overall in our total revenue projections. “I don’t have any reason to think that’s going to change going forward, so that continues to challenge us with the need for Kent to try to grow our tax base and for us to continue to look for ways to reduce our expenses,” Coffee said. Over the years…
Concerned Neighbor
12:15 pm on Monday, August 27, 2012
I agree with Pat. Seems if we have an increased the level of income tax collection, and expect collections to continue to rise, seems that new revenue should be what is spent on a new police facility. Live within the revenue being collected. more ›