Chillicothe — Council is meeting in special session at 5pm today to vote on putting a replacement 0.2% city income tax levy on the spring ballot. This is not an additional tax, but simply a replacement of the current one. It is the only item on the agenda.
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.
On January 13th, Link said he was hoping to ask the city auditor about the anticipated carryover from 2024, but she was absent from the council session.
Link said there was $120K of nonessential expenditures on that night’s agenda, and was concerned about the tax.
Councilman Jeff Creed said the proposed resolution came out of Dustin Proehl’s finance committee, but he was absent while recovering from a heart attack.
Link asked why the resolution had emergency language, allowing it to take effect immediately instead of the standard 30 days. Creed said it was to meet the deadline for the spring elections.
Link ended with asking that, considering the city’s probable carryover, is it right to tax like this?
Find my video of his address among others that night.
In the January 27th council session, Link thanked council president Kevin Shoemaker for being the only member of council who responded to him.
Again, Link asked what the 2024 carryover was, and pointed out that there was $80K of nonessential spending on agenda (of which $30K was passed for a disc golf park).
Dustin Proehl, chair of the finance committee, was again absent (after another procedure for his heart attack).
Link pointed out that it is difficult to keep up with all of council’s emailed notifications, and that the council’s content on the city’s website and Facebook page have not been updated for months.
