Local

Dayton Unit NAACP endorses Issue 9, the city’s earnings tax issue

DAYTON — Some of the most vocal critics of Issue 9, a ballot issue that would increase Dayton’s earnings tax for the time time since 1984, have said higher taxes would be OK — if the money is spent the right way.

Supporters — including the Dayton Unit NAACP, which announced its endorsement Monday night — said the levy, which will generate about $11 million annually, will pay to maintain and expand essential city services while also funding important investments in Dayton’s children, infrastructure, workforce, assets and neighborhoods.

Issue 9 would increase the city earnings tax to 2.5 percent from 2.25 percent. It would expire after eight years.

The additional 0.25 percent tax would cost a worker who earns $35,000 annually about $87.50 more each year. The levy does not tax Social Security and retirement income and interest earnings.

The tax applies to people who live or work in the city. About 70 percent of the income taxes Dayton collects is paid by people who live outside the city limits.

Endorsements also have come from the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce, the Downtown Dayton Partnership, the Dayton Area Board of Realtors’ political action committee.

The city faces a $5 million shortfall in 2017, largely because of state cuts to the local government fund that have resulted in Dayton losing $40 million since 2011, City Manager Shelley Dickstein said.

She said the new money will help close the budget gap while also paying to expand services, such as increasing the number of miles of residential roads that will be repaved and resurfaced.

About 60 percent of Dayton’s streets would be redone over the eight-year levy period. Dickstein said that means all of the city’s roads would be in good shape by the time the tax expires.

0
Comments on this article