Marion City Council to consider amendments to tax code on Monday
Marion City Council will hear the final reading of two ordinances related to the municipal income tax code when it meets on Monday evening. The two measures have generated quite a bit of debate during meetings over the past month.
Councilman Ayers Ratliff, 2nd Ward, proposed both ordinances. Ordinance 2023-028 would amend the section of the local tax code (Marion City Code Chapter 194.091) that requires city residents age 16 and older to "file an annual municipal income tax return with the Municipality, regardless of income or liability." Ratliff contends that asking people who are not required to pay the local income tax to still file a tax form is an undo burden on those residents who fall into that category and a waste of resources and time it takes the auditor's office to process those forms.
Ratliff has proposed amending the code to eliminate the age requirement for filing an income tax return and only require residents to file an income tax return if they have an annual income that is $500 or more. The amended portion of code - Chapter 194.091(A)(1) - would read as follows if Ordinance 2023-028 receives approval from city council: "An annual return with respect to the income tax levied on Municipal Taxable Income by the Municipality shall be completed and filed by every taxpayer for any taxable year for which the taxpayer is subject to the tax, except if the income subject to the tax is less than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00)."
Additionally, Chapter 194.091 (A)(3) would read as follows, if the amendment is approved by city council: "All resident individual taxpayers, 16 years of age and older, shall file an annual municipal income tax return with the Municipality, regardless of income or liability. except if the income subject to the tax is less than Five Hundred Dollars ($ 500.00)."
Marion Auditor Miranda Meginness and Deputy Auditor Marden Watts have expressed their opposition to the amendment, both in discussions during the Jobs and Economic Development Committee meetings and regular council meetings. Watts stated during the May 22 meeting that he believes the amendment would create contradictions within the city's tax code, be difficult to explain to residents, and have an adverse effect on other parts of the city tax code, including definitions of terminology.
Ordinance 2023-029 would amend Marion City Code Chapter 194.081 that applies to the credit for income tax paid to other municipalities by those Marion residents whose jobs are in other locations. City code currently allows for a 50% credit on income tax Marion residents pay to other municipalities. In short, the Ratliff amendment would provide Marion residents who work outside of the city and pay that municipality's income tax with a 100% credit, if the ordinance is approved by city council.
Ratliff contends that Marion residents who pay income tax to the municipalities where they work as well as the local income tax are unfairly "double taxed" in an economic atmosphere where individual and family incomes are already burdened. Councilmen Mike Neff, 6th Ward, and Aaron Rollins, At-large, have both expressed support for the proposed ordinance in previous meetings.
The auditor's office has also expressed opposition to this amendment, stating that Marion would lose an estimated $311,000 in income due to the 100% credit. Watts said that figure was based on 2022 credit amount.
Marion mayoral candidate Bill Collins has also voiced opposition to the proposed tax credit increase, citing the fact that the city's bond rating was revoked earlier this year by S&P Global Ratings due to the ongoing issues completing the 2021 and 2022 financial audits.
In a letter to city council dated May 21, Collins said he is "not comfortable" that anyone knows what the actual economic impact of the proposed tax credit would be on the city. He advised waiting until 2024 to "figure out exactly where the city stands financially."
Marion City Council will meet at 6:30 p.m. on Monday at City Hall. To see the agenda for the meeting, go to the City of Marion website www.marionohio.us. To listen to audio recordings of Marion City Council meetings, go to the City of Marion Ohio YouTube account.
Last meeting for Cornelius
Monday's meeting will be the final one for Councilman Brett Cornelius, At-large. Cornelius is a Lutheran minister and has accepted a senior pastor position with a church in Vandalia, Illinois. He said he and his wife will be moving there next week.
Despite announcing publicly on May 7 that he is moving away from Marion, Cornelius, a Republican, has yet to tender his resignation to city council. He is expected to do that at Monday's meeting.
The Marion County Republican Party Central Committee now has the task of finding a replacement for Cornelius. Chairman Ken Stiverson told the Star that Cornelius informed him about his decision to leave Marion on May 8. Stiverson said the GOP central committee has begun the work of seeking a replacement for Cornelius.
Cornelius is the second member of Marion City Council to resign from office during this term, which commenced Jan. 1, 2022, and will end Dec. 31 2023. Councilman Kai Meade, 1st Ward, resigned last July because his family purchased a house outside of city limits, thus making him ineligible to hold office. Meade, a Democrat, was replaced by Jeff Gerritsen, who was appointed by the Marion County Democratic Party Central Committee last August.
Email: ecarter@gannett.com | Twitter: @AndrewACCarter
This article originally appeared on Marion Star: Marion City Council to consider amendments to tax code on Monday
