Tax levies: Dayton, Oakwood OK issues; Clayton, Riverside voters reject 2

Dayton’s eight-year, 0.25% city income tax renewal, Issue 6, was approved Tuesday night with 70.5% in favor, election records show.

“I want to thank all of the Dayton voters who supported Issue 6,” Mayor Jeffrey Mims Jr. said. “Because of your support, the city of Dayton will continue providing critical services such as fire, police, EMS, road paving, park improvements, and preschool – and now also housing.

“When we passed this tax eight years ago, it set in motion monumental investments in Dayton that have moved our city forward in a transformational way,” Mims said. “We will be able to continue these improvements due to the passage of Issue 6 – without a tax increase.”

The tax will raise about $15 million annually.

“The aspect of having this pass shows us that we’re going in the right direction because so much work has been done in the past,” Mims said.

“When it passed eight years ago, it gave us a foundation to let outside investors know that we were serious about improving Dayton and going in the right direction,” he added. “The aspect of that causing … investments in all parts of the city, especially downtown, gave us dollars that we could distribute throughout the community as well.”

Dayton anticipates that total income tax collections this year will be about $155 million. The 0.25% tax up for renewal is one-tenth of the city’s total 2.5% rate. Income taxes account for nearly three-fourths of the city’s general fund revenue.

“The aspect at looking at police, fire and safety,” Mims said, “fixing roads in Dayton, our parks and our recreation facilities – as well as housing – clearly … all those trademarks have shown that Dayton, again, has gotten momentum” for success over the past several years.”

Oakwood tax issue approved

Oakwood’s property tax issue passed with 55.9% support.

Issue 9 in Oakwood sought approval of an additional 2.41 mills for five years. It will basically return tax funding to the level of the 3.75-mill levy the city wanted to put before voters last fall, but let expire due to a clerical error, Montgomery County records show.

“We appreciate the support of our citizens passing the replacement levy” and the city’s 32-member budget review committee, Oakwood Mayor Bill Duncan said. “We’re going to use this money to continue our excellent public safety, public works and leisure services.”

The levy will collect nearly $1.14 million annually, costing owners of a home valued at $200,000 about $168 a year, according to the county auditor’s office. Without the levy this year, Oakwood approved a 2024 budget projected to include about $1.3 million in deficit spending, City Manager Norbert Klopsch said.

Xenia

For Issue 3 in Greene County, Xenia residents rejected a permanent, 4-mill public safety levy (fire, EMS and police). The vote was 58-42 against the levy. The money would have funded increasing patrol officers and EMS units, as resources allow, sustaining and possibly expanding Xenia’s School Resource Officer program, and helping to relocate Fire Station 32 to improve response times in southwest Xenia.

Riverside

Riverside’s police levy, Issue 10, was a 4.95-mill property tax replacement that would have cost the owner of a $100,000 home $173 a year, up $44 from the current level, county data shows. Voters turned it down by a ratio of 52.4 to 47.6.

The levy has funded operating expenses such as personnel, and capital purchases such as body cameras and equipment. City Manager Josh Rauch said in a tight market for police officers, it would have made sure that the city’s salaries stay competitive.

Two issues in Clayton

Clayton’s rejected levy was a complex tax issue, a 1% income tax rise while increasing the credit residents get for taxes paid to other cities. About 52% of voters said no.

The impact would have varied depending where people work — Clayton residents who work in cities with higher income tax rates would have see their overall city payments fall, while those who work in Clayton or a township would have paid more. The city estimates its annual income tax receipts would have risen from $5.4 million to $7.9 million, as payments from non-Clayton residents would rise.

Clayton voters also voted on a referendum over the details of a 125-home development at Phillipsburg-Union Road and Haber Road. The city had approved a plan for homes on quarter-acre tracts, but some residents pushed back with a “Keep it Rural” campaign for larger lots. The result of the referendum means the development will not go forward as the city had planned.

Harrison Twp. two levies

Most of the township tax levies on the ballot were either renewals or involved smaller communities. The exception was Harrison Twp. in Montgomery County, which asked voters to approve a pair of 5-mill additional permanent levies — one for fire/EMS services, and the other for general township operations.

Issue 14, for the fire department, passed by a 60.9 to 39.1 ratio, but Issue 13, for general township expenses, lost by a 54-46 ratio.

Elsa’s, Sheetz plan hits hurdle

In a three-part vote, residents of one precinct of Centerville voted not to allow beer, wine and mixed beverages to be sold for carryout by stores in their area. Each prong of the proposal was rejected by more than 75% of voters. The Sheetz gas station-convenience store chain had hoped to build a store there on the site of the longtime Elsa’s restaurant and bar on Far Hills Avenue.