BEAVERCREEK — The Beavercreek city council is considering asking voters to decide whether they should have an income tax in their community.
This is something that voters in Beavercreek have failed several times before.
News Center 7’s John Bedell talked to the mayor and heard from people who are for and against adding the tax.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WHIO-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
TRENDING STORIES:
- Man in custody after U.S. Marshals serve warrant in Dayton neighborhood
- Teen listed in Ohio AG missing persons database shot, killed
- 58-year-old man arrested after suspected fentanyl found during traffic stop
Right now, the city of Beavercreek does not have an income tax. At its city council meeting last night, council members laid the groundwork for asking voters whether they want to change that.
Harold Lewis of Beavercreek said, “You won’t get my vote on it. You won’t get my support.”
After doing that, the council got mixed reactions from residents in the room.
Julie Moore of Beavercreek said, “I’m totally for the income tax.”
Without an income tax, the city gets most of its revenue to bankroll city services, 72 percent, from grants and property taxes.
Beavercreek Mayor Don Adams said, “Property taxes are too high. We realize that, and we hear that all the time. So, we’re looking at this as a way of diversifying what we’re doing as far as the income for the city.”
Adams says a 1 percent income tax would take some of the financial burden off homeowners in the city.
“We have 24,000 people a day come into Beavercreek to work. They would pay that 1 percent,” Adams said.
People who live in Beavercreek but work outside the city would get 100 percent credit.
“I’m a senior. I won’t have to pay this tax. But I’ll be damned if I’m going to take money from some young family out there in order to build a new city hall,” Lewis said.
Moore said, “I’ve worked, well, now I’m retired, so this will not affect me. However, my whole life I’ve worked, and my whole life I’ve paid income tax. I didn’t have a problem with it.”
At a meeting at city hall at the end of next month, the Beavercreek City Council will vote on whether to put an income tax measure in front of voters on the November ballot.
[SIGN UP: WHIO-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]