A Taxing Message For Citizens Of Stow…
by SCRGadmin on Mar.02, 2010, under City Council, Our City
Along with other Cities across the United States, Stow too has reduced revenue. The income level of most families has gone down thereby reducing the amount of income taxes the City is collecting. The latest figure puts the City’s revenue from income taxes down about a million dollars. Couple this with the current deficit being paid to operate the new court house and golf course and this really creates some financial problems for the City. There has been some talk of raising the income tax or property tax level to offset the decline in revenues. So far the City has been reluctant to go to these extreme measures but that is because they still have some money in their reserve accounts. That might all change in the beginning of 2011. Now is the time to encourage the Council and Mayor to continue to reduce their spending. Large projects such as the improvement of the Seasons Road area as well as the widening of Hudson Drive should be suspended until the economy improves. Available funds should be focused on the minimal operations of the City and existing infrastructure. The City should discourage unnecessary travel expenses for the Mayor and her staff. Consideration should be given to possibly halting the Community Improvement Corporation. Their loan program to help recover and expand private businesses out of the City’s treasury has got to stop.
Some difficult choices have to be made now. This idea of pouring more and more money into economic development and less and less into our city streets, water lines and sewers has got to change. Look around your neighborhoods; have you seen any new improvements? Two major streets have never even seen city water services while the Mayor and Council continues to dump millions of our tax dollars into a project on Seasons Road that will, at least in the short term, benefit only a few investors.
If we don’t act today to get the City’s spending under control, you probably will see increased taxes next year. Please try to attend these important budget meetings next week. Let’s show the Mayor and Council that we are concerned about how our tax dollars are being spent.
2 Comments for this entry
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March 2nd, 2010 on 12:34 pm
The squandering has to stop. And of course, pressure must now be put on the city council and mayor in this regard. They need to be told in no uncertain terms that tax increases are out of the question.
But this is a band-aid approach A true solution will come only with the election of more taxpayer conscious people like new council member Mike Rasor to these government positions.
March 3rd, 2010 on 1:38 pm
New to this site — but not this area. I hope cities like Stow (and every other city dealing with decreased revenue) are realizing that the bubble has burst and what (I honestly believe) we’re seeing is a “correction” — just like what we’re seeing with the housing market/prices; prices for homes continued to go up and now, the market is essentially “correcting itself.” I put what city budgets are going through in the same pot as the housing market: it’s correcting itself. Cities must now start realizing that they must start operating more efficiently.
I would have to agree that spending $$ on economic development needs to stop. I’m sort of lost as to what exactly the money is being spent on/for what purpose? I already have serious concerns (who doesn’t?) about what’s (not) going on on Commerce Drive. Is that stretch even viable for “commerce”? Heck, I’d rather see this econ. development money used to do a viability study for this corridor to see if that area needs to be put to better use — even if it means bulldozing some of those outdated buildings.
Although I do not golf, I am certainly against selling the golf course. That is a significant ‘quality of life’ (recreation) contribution to our community. I don’t agree with those who just say “sell it” without looking into things more. I just looked at the fees and I have an issue with them. A 5% discount for Stow residents?? That is ridiculous. The discount should be more than that since WE pay for it. For example, (using 18 holes weekdays) a 5% discount is about $1.25 off. Big deal. Those who do NOT live in Stow should be paying significantly more than Stow residents. How do the rates compare to other courses (public and private)? Stow residents should be paying AT LEAST 20% less than the general public. Also, is there potential to expand the course’s offerings? Season passes? Weekend passes? Early-bird w/breakfast specials? Weddings/receptions? I’ve never been there, so I don’t know what’s there, but simply saying “sell it” without fully researching how we can make money from any possible avenue is, quite frankly, irresponsible (even for those on council doing that.)
What about Bow Wow Beach. Again, another rec thing WE are paying for. Meanwhile, people from all over are using it. Are there fees? If no, then why not? It costs to maintain it. Again, a significantly discounted rate (free!) for Stow residents and significantly more for non-residents. As you can tell, I have a real serious problem with non-residents paying the same rates we do, when WE are the ones funding it. Non-residents usually pay significantly more than residents for most recreation.
I feel like I’m rambling, so I’ll stop for now — but I’m not one to support people who make a bunch of accusations w/nothing to support it…I’m hoping people around here aren’t guilty of that because that makes you lose all credibility, and therefore, would not be taken seriously in the community. Just my two cents ( pre-taxed lol)
JJ