City struggling to collect income taxes

If city can’t meet budget, voters could face temporary tax hike

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By Lucas Sullivan, Staff Writer Updated 1:19 AM Wednesday, August 11, 2010

DAYTON — City Manager Tim Riordan left the University of Dayton Arena as if he’s dragging the city’s mounting financial woes across the parking lot to pack into an older, compact Toyota sedan.

Riordan is trying to right a city that’s been in economic decline for more than 12 years.

Riordan, 64, took the city’s reins less than 12 months ago after his predecessor, Rashad Young, left to become city manager of Greensboro, N.C., leaving a projected $15 million to $20 million deficit behind.

This year, despite conservative budgeting, the city is another $6 million in the hole and staring at another $17 million deficit next year, Riordan said.

On Tuesday, Aug. 10, Riordan calmly tells a few dozen, mostly black members of the Carillon Civic Council how in the last 12 years, Dayton has fared worse in income tax growth than any major city in Ohio.

Raising taxes or cutting expenses (or a combination of both) are really the only options he tells the group before someone suggests the city contract out snow plowing duties and another asks what he thinks of the new mayor, Gary Leitzell.

So far so good, on the latter question, Riordan answers.

Riordan held 35 “listening tour” meetings like this in the last two months — asking citizens to weigh on three options to fix the city’s budget problems.

Riordan refused after his final tour stop Tuesday to discuss if his recommendation will be to raise the income tax.

He worries doing so will chase businesses away.

“We have to balance the budget and none of the options are going to be easy,” he said. “But we’ve got to get it done and we have to get it done knowing that things are not going to get much better in the next couple years.”

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