“I would say this is a very typical year, and we can expect this almost every year unless we stop doing some work,” Carpenter said.
Carpenter estimated based on data from the International City/County Management Association the city’s operational budget should be around $17 million to $18 million. Raising the income tax by about one percent with a tax credit would bring that budget up by about $3 million to about $15 million, Carpenter said.
“We need a lot more, but we gotta to be reasonable,” Carpenter said.
Riverside’s 2021 budget was approved at its March 4 council meeting.
By Ohio law, municipalities must have a balanced budget. Carpenter said the city is using some of their carry-over balance to fund the 2021 budget. Part of the problem with long-term sustainability is that the city cannot continue to use their carry-over balance to fund the city.
Police and fire spending is the bulk of what the city spends at roughly 58%, as council member Mike Denning pointed out during a city council work session last Thursday. Denning also remarked that the income that police and fire bring in through the taxes and funds designated to them is about 42% of the city’s total income, meaning police and fire expenses are supported through the general fund.
“So to get those numbers closer together, I would say if we put are going to put a one percent on, that one percent go to police and fire, so it can bring their income to what they’re spending,” Denning said.
Carpenter also noted that Riverside is expecting to get about $4.9 million from the most recent COVID-19 relief law, which President Joe Biden signed into law last Thursday. He said they do not currently know what, if any, strings may be attached to that money.
Contact Eileen McClory at 937-694-2016 or eileen.mcclory@coxinc.com.
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