Middletown Ohio


Find us on
 Google+ and Facebook


 

Home | Yearly News Archive | Advertisers | Blog | Contact Us
Thursday, October 31, 2024
FORUM CITY SCHOOLS COMMUNITY
  New Posts New Posts RSS Feed - Income-tax revenues
  FAQ FAQ  Forum Search   Events   Register Register  Login Login

Income-tax revenues

 Post Reply Post Reply
Author
Vivian Moon View Drop Down
MUSA Council
MUSA Council


Joined: May 16 2008
Location: Middletown, Ohi
Status: Offline
Points: 4187
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Vivian Moon Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Income-tax revenues
    Posted: May 09 2016 at 11:19am

Posted: 10:45 a.m. Monday, May 9, 2016

Income-tax revenues up in Hamilton, Middletown

Hamilton revenues see healthy gain; Middletown’s results up, but mixed.

By Mike Rutledge

Staff Writer

 

BUTLER COUNTY 

The city of Hamilton’s income-tax revenues were up 8.45 percent last year over 2014, and if this year’s the first-quarter revenues are an indication, they could make a similar jump this year.

Through the first quarter of this year, total income-tax revenues were up 7.8 percent, or $466,587, over the same period of 2015.

The revenue growth indicates economic factors are improving in the city — non-residents who work in Hamilton are making more money, as are self-employed residents or residents who work outside the city and pay income taxes to Hamilton. Businesses this year also have sent in in more net-profit taxes.

“One of the things that’s very exciting for me is seeing the income taxes,” city Finance Director Tom Vanderhorst recently told members of city council. “That’s strong, and I would be excited about that.”

It’s especially good news for the city because the finance department created this year’s budget based on the assumption that income taxes that pour into the city’s general fund would be down 1.12 percent from last year, Vanderhorst said. He now believes the general fund, which receives about 90 percent of all income-tax revenues, will reap $2 million more in income taxes than predicted, if current trends hold.

Hamilton in its budgeting makes a point of conservatively predicting income and aggressively predicting bad-case scenarios for expenses, Vanderhorst said.

“I think when you do that, it builds stability for the budget,” he said.

Meanwhile, in Middletown, total income-tax revenues during the first quarter of this year were up 2.9 percent over the same period of 2015. Middletown’s income-tax revenues for the full year of 2015 were 4.9 percent above 2014.

Unlike Hamilton’s results, which were positive across the board, Middletown’s were mixed: Withholdings by businesses from their employees’ pay were up 6.8 percent; but net-profit taxes sent by businesses were down 7.6 percent; and income taxes sent by Middletown residents (who either live in the city and work elsewhere, or who are self-employed) were down 13.6 percent.

Part of the reason for the Middletown residents’ amounts being lower may be that the city did less delinquent-collection work in late 2o15 and early 2016 than the corresponding periods a year earlier, Middletown Finance Director Jacob Burton said.

Hamilton Council Member Timothy Naab noted his city’s numbers could improve further through the year, “because as we learned, (high-tech shock-absorber manufacturer) Thyssenkrupp Bilstein added staff that they had not projected, and as StarTek and as Barclays ramp up…” revenues should continue to climb. Barclays’ new Barclaycard operation has committed to creating 1,500 jobs in Hamilton by 2018.

While revenues have been rising, Vanderhorst and other Hamilton officials have expressed concern about law changes by Gov. John Kasich and the Ohio General Assembly that have significantly sliced revenues cities receive from the state government, with further cuts to come next year under already-signed laws.

HAMILTON’S NUMBERS

Here’s a breakdown of Hamilton’s income-tax revenues:

·                       Individual income taxes, which come from Hamilton residents who work elsewhere or are self-employed, were $1.08 million, up 9.1 percent. That means “one of two things is happening: We’re either getting more citizens, or the citizens who are here are making more,” Vanderhorst said.

·                       Income taxes sent by businesses ($513,784) were up 37.8 percent, which could reflect the number of businesses making larger first-quarter estimate payments this year. Businesses often do that as a tax-planning tool when they predict higher net profits than in earlier years.

·                       Withholdings sent to the city by companies from their employees’ payroll ($5.o2 million) were up 5.6 percent. Withholdings in Hamilton account for about 78 percent of all income-tax revenues.

·                       Hamilton’s overall income-tax revenues — minus what was paid out in refunds — were $6.45 million, up by 7.8 percent, or $466,587, from last year.

MIDDLETOWN’S FIGURES

Here are corresponding income-tax numbers for Middletown:

·                       The $750,123 in individual residents’ income taxes, collected from Middletown residents who work elsewhere or are self-employed, were down 13.6 percent in the first quarter from the same period of 2015. A year earlier, the first quarter had been up 9.6 percent over 2014. “I would suspect residential collections are down due to less delinquent collection work occurring during 4th quarter 2015 and 1st quarter 2016 as compared to the same time period in the previous year,” Burton said. “This was simply due to staffing changes within the Tax Department that occurred in late 2015 and at the beginning of 2016.”

·                       Income taxes sent by Middletown businesses for net profits ($265,683) were down 7.6 percent from the first quarter of 2015, which had revenues that were 7.5 percent below that period of 2014. “There were no changes in collection periods that would account for any type of increase or decrease,” from last year to this year, Burton said. “I have no specifics at this time as to why business or residential is down.”

·                       Withholdings sent to Middletown by companies from their employees’ payroll (almost $4.8 million) were up 6.8 percent over 2015, which in turn was 9.6 percent above 2014. Fortunately for city revenues, the withholding category of revenues accounts for about 82 percent of total income-tax revenues.

·                       Middletown’s overall first-quarter income-tax revenues (nearly $5.8 million) were up 2.9 percent ($166,039) over last year.

 

Back to Top
VietVet View Drop Down
MUSA Council
MUSA Council
Avatar

Joined: May 15 2008
Status: Offline
Points: 7008
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote VietVet Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 09 2016 at 12:41pm
Well gee, if the employers are leaving in droves and are not replaced, AK is down to a third of the employee level it enjoyed at one time, there are no more paper mill jobs, and, if the city is intent on being satisfied with lower wage job opportunities for the residents like sales, fast food, cashiers, call center work or other low paying positions, then one would expect the income tax revenue to be on the low side. Where are the $12-$15/hr, manufacturing jobs? Still well short of what is needed here. How about some tech jobs (other than AK Steel's research center) sprinkled in the mix? How about corporate warehousing? The city started to lose employers in the 70's. It is now 2016. City leaders are still in denial. Why?

If this city had a decent economic development department the last two/three decades, and there was some effort on enticing companies here, we might have seen better results on employment opportunities by now. This city has cut it's own throat by creating such a deplorable image, no respectable company wants to locate here. The city leaders have run it into the ground to such a degree, that it may be already past the point of no return.

How do you go about reversing the image producing cancer that has been imbedded in this town for the last three decades? And, if we had some smart people running this city, how long would it be for them to reverse the poor image?

The fix starts by eliminating the same old stale ideas coming from the same old stale city leaders. Time to clean the city building house. The city manager goes first followed by the worthless rubber stamping council and the current econ. dev. dept. New people.....new ideas and approach. Otherwise, Middletown dies a slow death.
I'm so proud of my hometown and what it has become. Recall 'em all. Let's start over.
Back to Top
middielover View Drop Down
MUSA Resident
MUSA Resident
Avatar

Joined: Oct 31 2015
Location: Middletown
Status: Offline
Points: 192
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote middielover Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 09 2016 at 8:43pm
No surprise in Vet's comment.
Demons in city building need to go!
We are all doomed.
Jump ship!
The end is near!
Back to Top
VietVet View Drop Down
MUSA Council
MUSA Council
Avatar

Joined: May 15 2008
Status: Offline
Points: 7008
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote VietVet Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 10 2016 at 6:13am
Originally posted by middielover middielover wrote:

No surprise in Vet's comment.
Demons in city building need to go!
We are all doomed.
Jump ship!
The end is near!


Let's look at the same thing from another perspective....

No surprise in middielovers comment. Current problem creators in the city building need to go! Additional blame goes to the former occupiers of the city building for the last three decades. Rampant incompetence, no progressive thinking, anal retentive narrow-mindedness have been common traits.

The city is doomed.... if a change isn't made to ideas that haven't worked in those three decades. Only fools would keep operating under known failed methods.

Jump ship? Not leaving. My town. My memories, despite the current city climate. Those responsible for taking the town to the abyss need to "jump ship!" These newbies in the city building and the downtown area are trying to take the city in a direction it will never go. This is blue collar territory, not culture. Let it alone and give up on this dam culture crap. 95% of the people don't want it, don't understand it and will not support it.

The end will be near if they don't change their thinking or the people don't insist on replacements for incompetence.

Two ways to look at the same situation middlelover. You see ignorance and incompetence but can excuse it and accept it as SOP. I cannot accept incompetence in leadership capacities. These people running the show claim they have the credentials to make the right decisions. Look at the condition of this dam city and, with an unbiased opinion, tell me truthfully that this city is where it needs to be after all this time. If you see that it is, then you are as blind as they seem to be. Good God, what is the matter with you people?
I'm so proud of my hometown and what it has become. Recall 'em all. Let's start over.
Back to Top
 Post Reply Post Reply
  Share Topic   

Forum Jump Forum Permissions View Drop Down



This page was generated in 0.094 seconds.
Copyright ©2024 MiddletownUSA.com    Privacy Statement  |   Terms of Use  |   Site by Xponex Media  |   Advertising Information