The City of Powell community turned out on May 4 to make their voices heard and voted to approve the income tax restructuring proposal, also approved unanimously by Powell City Council. Sixty-six percent of Powell voters approved implementation of the income tax restructuring, which goes into effect on January 1, 2022.
Under the city’s current income tax credit structure, residents pay 0.5 percent to the city of Powell as well as income tax to the community where they work.
The income tax calculator is based on the passage of the proposed income tax restructuring proposal. Under the proposed restructuring, residents would receive up to 100% credit for taxes paid to their work municipality, up to 2%. If the workplace municipality tax rate is less than the proposed 2%, the resident will owe the difference.
Local Election Day for City of Powell residents is Tuesday, May 4, 2021. Polls are open on election day from 6:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m.
The proposal would restructure the current tax distribution for residents who live in the city and work in a different municipality. Specifically, it would raise the credit for taxes paid to another municipality to 100 percent and increase the effective income tax rate for individuals working in the city from the current rate of 0.75 percent to 2 percent.
Currently, residents who pay taxes to another municipality receive a 0.25 percent credit, meaning they pay 0.5 percent to the city of Powell plus an additional tax to the city where they work.
Social security and pension income are not taxed as earned income and therefore would not be impacted by the proposed change.
Powell City Council unanimously approved a resolution that will place an income tax restructuring proposal before voters.
The proposal is estimated to generate an additional $3.4 million for the City of Powell each year, which would be spent on improvements to public safety, economic development, operational efficiencies and infrastructure.
The 2018 Citizen Financial Review Task Force Report found that the city no longer collects sufficient revenue to maintain existing capital infrastructure, such as streets and other essential services. Without this influx of capital, our city could face a plateau or shrinkage within our public safety ranks and an indefinite pause on remaining aspects of the Keep Powell Moving plan.
The City of Powell has created an income tax calculator so residents can determine how they will be impacted by the passage of this measure.
The income tax in Powell has remained unchanged at 0.75 percent since 1990. Currently, Powell has one of the lowest effective tax rates in the state of Ohio. Out of 28 comparable Central Ohio cities, Powell’s current income tax credit ranked 21st, among the least beneficial in the region.
The overwhelming majority of income raised through property taxes fund our excellent public schools. The City of Powell receives approximately two cents of every dollar. The measure would restructure taxation that would otherwise go to other municipalities and bring it back into our community.
Powell’s most expensive infrastructure assets are its 120 lane miles of streets, 77 miles of storm sewers and 24 miles of bike paths. Developers built these improvements for the most part during the city’s most active periods of growth in the late 1980s and early 2000s. Expiring development revenue from this period exacerbates budgetary imbalance.
Historically, Powell’s funding for capital infrastructure and maintenance came mostly from gasoline and estate taxes and Ohio’s Local Government Fund. In recent years, the State of Ohio has dramatically cut the Local Government Fund and it eliminated the Estate Tax in 2013. Due to decreasing revenue from these funds, Powell has repeatedly deferred maintenance and operational adjustments.
Maintaining a healthy savings ensures we maintain our ‘AAA’ credit rating. This, in turn, helps us keep operational expenses down. At the end of the day, it’s fiscally responsible for us to keep that rainy day fund entact.
You can check your voter registration status through the Ohio Secretary of State website here.
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Powell City Council unanimously approved a resolution that will place an income tax restructuring proposal before Powell voters during the Primary Election on Tuesday, May 4, 2021.
You must register or update your voter registration no later than 30 days prior to an election. Upcoming voter registration deadlines:
• April 5, 2021 for the May 4, 2021 Primary and Special Election
• July 5, 2021 for the August 3, 2021 Special Election
• October 4, 2021 for the November 2, 2021 General Election
If you have questions or would like a City of Powell representative to speak to a group, please reach out to connect@cityofpowell.us