BY WALT SCHAEFER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
READING -- While both Republican and Democratic camps want the Reading Road corridor improved, a party line split divides support for an earnings tax increase on the Nov. 3 ballot.
Veteran Republican Councilman Robert Boehner supports the earnings tax increase from 1.5 to 1.75 percent which, he said, will generate about $350,000 annually for 15 years to upgrade the road and attract economic development.
"All of that money would be used for Reading Road development. I see it as a two-pronged thing: to begin our streetscape plan on Reading Road . . . and to acquire property for urban development," he said. Mr. Boehner said the key is property for parking lots so on-street parking can be eliminated.
Mr. Boehner said voters rejected last year's move to increase earnings taxes by a half percentage point because the money would have gone to the general fund and not specifically to Reading Road. While Mr. Boehner said city operating revenues are tight, an expected move to pass on $300,000 in garbage collection costs to residents would offset operating shortfalls.
But Mayor Earl Schmidt, the city's leading Democrat, said he supports economic development along Reading Road but not the tax increase. "I cannot support this because we are not going at it from the right direction.
"'I do not consider the streetscape a priority. I do support the need (for money) for urban renewal . . . and parking. But the streetscape in and of itself will not do a thing" if it is not tied to an overall plan.
Streetscapes alone won't attract development, he said.
The mayor said urban renewal plans are being completed by consultants and the developer chosen by the city could shoulder streetscaping costs.
The mayor said transferring garbage collection costs doesn't promise "long-term fiscal solvency . . . (but may only ease) operating cost problems by a year or so.
Residents are getting hit twice, the mayor said, if they pay an increased earnings tax and the cost of garbage collection.
Mr. Schmidt said he supports increasing the earnings tax to generate money for urban renewal but it should not be earmarked for that alone.
The earnings taxes, which make up 65 percent to 70 percent of the city's budget, dropped from nearly $6 million net in 1992 to $3.7 million in 1996. That year, the city's largest employer, Hoechst Marion Roussel Inc., announced it was moving its research arm, with about 350 high-paying jobs, to Somerset, N.J. Earnings tax revenues rebounded to about $3.8 million last year and are expected to drop by $100,000 this year.
Mr. Boehner said if Tuesday's issue passes, the new money would not be used to upgrade street appearance in locations targeted for development, but in front of already viable businesses.
The mayor said he would expect businesses to complete facade improvements to complement streetscapes and the urban renewal master plan.
