Thursday, October 07, 1999
Council approves property tax plan
6-2 vote OKs rollback in city's charge
BY PHILLIP PINA
The Cincinnati Enquirer
For the first time in at least 42 years, Cincinnati landowners will get a voted tax break from the city.
On Wednesday, Cincinnati City Council approved a rollback on the property tax on operating expenses. The move marked the first time since at least 1957 the city tax rate will decrease, city officials said.
“It was a great day for taxpayers in Cincinnati,” said Tom Brinkman Jr., organizer of the tax-reform group Coalition Opposed to Additional Taxes and Spending, which supported the rollback. Now, he wants council to make it a regular occurance.
As mandated, the city's property is being reappraised and estimates put the average value increase between 7 and 11 percent. If the tax rate had remained the same, the increase in value meant residents would still have had to pay more taxes.
Before Cincinnati landown ers open their tax bills, City Manager John Shirey reminds them the city tax is only a 19 percent portion of their total property tax bill. Wednesday's vote had no bearing on the remaining 81 percent. And the rollback means only that the city portion will not increase, don't expect a decrease, he said.
Charges of politicking
Wednesday's 6-2 vote in favor of the rollback did not come without charges of political jockeying by council members. Detractors from the rollback plan charged it may jeopardize city services. And supporters were accused of playing to the purse strings of voters during an election year.
“We all have been politicking,” said Councilman Charlie Winburn, who criticized the rollback plan, and then voted for it. It didn't go far enough to bring meaningful relief to taxpayers, he said.
The rollback was proposed by Councilman Phil Heimlich. And despite having the idea
voted down 5-4 in June, the introduction of three alternative plans, and more than four months of debate, Mr. Heimlich continued to push it.
“This is an historic moment,” Mr. Heimlich said. City leaders are reversing a trend of decades of tax increases.
A new precedent?
How historic was unclear Wednesday night. City Hall staff found the property tax rate had remained the same (6.1 mills) since 1957, according to the earliest records available. Some in City Hall think that tax rate may go back to 1947. And others say this may be the first time any city tax rate, including the earnings tax, had decreased in that time frame.
But Wednesday's vote raised the concern of some. Asked Councilman James Tarbell: At a time when the city is looking for money to expand the convention center, redevelop the downtown riverfront, and provide basic services, can it really afford to be giving money back?
“There are too many projects out there,” Mr. Tarbell said. He voted against the rollback.
He also took offense at what he felt was an unfair public characterization that without the rollback, the city was raising taxes. The tax rate would not have changed. It was the county's reappraisal that would have led to the higher taxes, he said.
Amount of tax break
Past city estimates show a 7 percent increase in property values translates into a nearly $14 tax increase for the owner of a $90,000 home. The rollback prevents that increase. Mr. Shirey said Wednesday the savings will likely be greater.
First estimates said city property values would rise about 7 percent and the roll back would amount to a $2.5 million tax break. But recent calculations put the increase more at 11 percent, meaning Wedneday's vote amounts to a $3.2 million tax break.
The property tax collects about $29 million for the city, Mr. Shirey said. The rollback keeps it at that level. The actual millage, which had been 6.1, will be determined by December when the reappraisals are finished.
Fewer complications
George Meinhardt, president of the Cincinnati Area Board of Realtors, said Wednesday's vote was important because it offered tax relief to residents and business owners alike and will take affect when tax bills go out this winter. The other plans proposed that competed against Mr. Heimlich's faced complications, from needed changes in state law to $725,000 in improvements to the city's tax department.
Now that Cincinnati has addressed the rollback, Mr. Brinkman's group will begin to focus on other villages and school districts throughout Hamilton County that also will see their property tax bills increase because of the reappraisals.
Council approves property tax plan
Washerwoman can lead Tide of goodness
Casinos consider staying docked
Drivers run red, but not in rage
Sauerkraut to honey, we love festivals
Waging war on teen drinking
Norwood mayor's office investigated
Driver faces eight years for hitting teen on bike
Police seek deli shooter
Trucker freed after bail lowered in fatal wreck
Classes to take away fear of computers
Goose dresser explains his passion
Ind. science teacher wins national award
Pets special on this day
Riverboat no longer tipsy
School candidates tell why they run
Where school board candidates stand
ABC's 'Wasteland' will make you scream
GET TO IT
Service honors fallen firefighters
Maisonette munchers rave on
Artists protest plan that displaces shelter
Boone planners may drop growth restriction
County chooses Ohio's program to help jobless
Disciplined janitors sue school board -6 over camera
Elsmere fumes at jail-site choice
Fingerprints at '85 death scene called link to man
School chiefs want funding addressed
Students inspire Up With People
Taft has caution on using windfall
TRISTATE DIGEST
United Way campaign nearly halfway to goal
Work on new school district begins
