Chillicothe — Council planned to put a small income tax replacement levy for city streets on the spring ballot, but the special session didn’t work out, and it will probably go to the voters in the fall instead.
The single item in Monday’s 5pm council session proposed to put a replacement 0.2% city income tax levy on the spring ballot. This is not an additional tax, but a replacement of the current one that expires at the end of the year.
Council was already short two members as they waited for clerk Kennedy Moss…who finally responded in a text that that she forgot, and couldn’t be there in a reasonable time.
Council member Jeff Creed was absent – as well as the resolution’s sponsor, Dustin Proehl, who is still recovering from a heart attack.
Council president Kevin Shoemaker suggested to council that voting without a clerk present might be problematic, and he didn’t want to appoint one of them as a fill-in clerk since it might remove a critical vote.
The seven of nine council members instead passed a motion to leave the vote for the regular session next Monday – which means they will miss this Wednesday’s deadline to file for the spring election.
So, the plan is to put it on the fall election. Since the 0.2% income tax replacement expires at the end of 2025, there is still time.
I asked Shoemaker if there was enough review of the proposed resolution, since it is a financial action and the committee chair has not been able to explain it to council and the public. He said that there will now be an extended period to discuss it in public. (Hear him in his own words in the interview video below.)
Jason Link has questioned whether this renewal is necessary, considering the apparently healthy condition of the city’s budget. He was a candidate for county commissioner in the fall election, and is senior pastor of First Presbyterian Church.
Link spoke on that in the public participation in the last two council sessions, which I caught on video. Find his second address, and a link to the first, in my preview article on the Scioto Post.
Former council member Beth Neal commented on my Facebook post previewing the council session:
“For those who remember the condition of our city streets before this tax levy, it has been the best use of money. The city coffers at some point will again be short of money and the first thing to cut will be the annual paving project.
“Keep the long term health of our city streets in mind and don’t be tempted to save a few bucks at the expense of the future. The city has big plans. Don’t ‘cheap out’ on the street – unless you really love potholes and crumbling pavement.”
