Exit will cost city treasury $2.6M in income tax

Dayton’s already-strained budget will take another hit in 2010 when 1,200 well-paid jobs move to Georgia.

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By Joanne Huist Smith  and Lynn Hulsey, Staff Writers Updated 2:34 AM Wednesday, June 3, 2009

DAYTON — City Manager Rashad Young said the impact of NCR’s decision to move its corporate headquarters from Dayton to Georgia will be “severe.”

“Dayton will take a direct hit on income taxes,” he said.

NCR has more than 1,200 employees with an average salary of $40.87 per hour.

The city stands to lose more than $2.6 million per year in income taxes.

The loss of income tax represents 1 percent to 2 percent of the city’s total estimated general fund budget of $154 million to $158 million.

“This piles up on other losses. Income taxes are down. Investment earnings are down. Local government funds are down and expected to be even lower next year,” Young said.

The downward spiral of income tax revenue — the city’s largest revenue stream — has become a trend in Dayton for several years.

Income tax collections dropped by $2.35 million between 2007 and 2008. The estimated forecast for 2009 shows an additional loss of $7.8 million, Barbara LaBrier, the city’s director of Management and Budget, said.

And, that’s prior to NCR employees coming off the city’s tax rolls in 2010.

“There’s a strong emotional disappointment here to the point that you want to take pictures (of NCR) off the walls,” LaBrier said. “There really is a sense of indignation, frustration, but also hope as we continue to remold the city.”

Beyond income taxes, the city anticipates loss of water department revenue from the corporation and Dayton International Airport will have fewer business passengers.

Dayton Mayor Rhine McLin said she was saddened that NCR wasn’t willing to talk about the move with city officials.

“John H. Patterson would be devastated to know officials of the company he built from the ground up in Dayton, Ohio would not even meet with the community to talk about the transition,” McLin said.

Local officials heard of NCR’s plans to leave on Monday, June 1.

“We love Dayton. Apparently the leadership of NCR does not,” Montgomery County Commission President Dan Foley said.

It appears there was no competition and that NCR was going to leave regardless, said Dayton City Commissioner Matt Joseph. He said Georgia taxpayers will be giving money to NCR even though the company apparently would have moved there anyway.

While many NCR employees are active members of the Dayton community, that hasn’t been the case with the company in recent years.

“There has been a corporate disconnect between NCR and the city for some time,” Young said. “They didn’t return our telephone calls, our e-mails, our overtures, nothing.”

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