BY LISA DONOVAN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
What better day than today -- April 15 -- for a politician to announce he's got a plan to cut taxes?
During Cincinnati City Council's regular weekly meeting today, Councilman Charlie Winburn will propose tax cuts to the tune of $30 million annually.
His plan includes:
Cutting the city's 2.1 percent earnings income tax to 1.9 percent, which means someone who earns $35,000 would save between $60 and $70 annually.
Cutting residential property taxes by 2 mills, giving back a grand total of $9.68 million to homeowners annually.
Reducing roughly 13 percent of the city's administrative, divisional and managerial budget, which would require layoffs. In all, $30.88 million would be saved, with 85 percent going to the taxpayers. The remaining 14.5 percent -- or $4.5 million -- would be used to pay for infrastructure improvements at Cincinnati's public schools.
The city is obligated to give the schools $5 million annually for the next 20 years.
The tax and budget cuts would cushion the blow of repealing the earnings tax on stock options, a popular form of compensating corporate executives.
Council members signed off on a preliminary plan to repeal the stock options tax.
"Not only should we give a tax break on stock options, we should give every property owner and wage worker a tax cut," Mr. Winburn said this week. "Excessive taxes are unwarranted for anyone." Mr. Winburn would like to see his proposed tax and budget cuts on the November ballot.
