On May 7, we in Beavercreek have the opportunity to correct a longstanding injustice. Currently, the local taxes on earnings of those who live in Beavercreek and work elsewhere remain in the city where they work. That’s how local taxes function in Ohio. However, the local taxes of those who live elsewhere and work in Beavercreek return to the city where they live. We don’t receive that money either! Until we pass a local income tax (like almost every other city in Ohio), we will continue to lose millions of dollars each year. We can level the playing field and receive our fair share.
But there’s even more good news. The city tax on earnings (but not pensions, Social Security, active-duty military pay, etc.) will, as part of the ordinance, lower property taxes. Talk about a win/win situation — retaining money that was flowing out of Beavercreek and lowering property taxes.
It sounded nice to be able to say that Beavercreek has no income tax, but we've been shooting ourselves in the foot with 75 percent of our workers living outside our city and sending home what should be "our money." BRIAN CHRISTENSON, BEAVERCREEK
‘Don’t be fooled’ by city’s claims
So now the City of Beavercreek is going after the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base civilian employees who live in the city? After suffering through three years of federal pay freezes and upcoming furloughs this summer, Beavercreek is going after the WPAFB employees for an additional 1.5 percent pay cut.
They claim that 75 percent of the new income tax will be paid by non-residents, based on a census of workers employed in Beavercreek. What about the thousands of Beavercreek residents who work on the base, both for the government and contractors?. We are residents, too, and can ill-afford another pay reduction and to provide politicians with another avenue to reach into our pockets. Don't be fooled by the claim "the others" will pay, because eventually you will be them. MATT STREHLE, BEAVERCREEK
Income tax ‘sounds good, and it is’
The people of Beavercreek are being asked to approve a city income tax.
You’ve no doubt heard the expression, “If it’s too good to be true, it probably isn’t true.” Well, in this case, it sounds good, and it is.
For more than 30 years, I paid city income tax to Kettering, and for 12 years, my wife did the same to Fairborn. It never made sense then, and it still doesn’t make sense that money that should be staying in Beavercreek to help offset the costs of operating our city and schools, is going to other municipalities. It is estimated that, with the passing of this issue, millions of dollars will stay in our city to help in its operations. Our property taxes will also be reduced in the coming years.
For the life of me, I can’t understand why anyone would vote against this income tax. I, for one, am tired of the constant levies to increase our property taxes.
Please join me in May and vote for the Beavercreek city income tax. RICHARD W. HAZELL, BEAVERCREEK
Income taxes ‘do not solve fiscal problems’
Re Beavercreek’s proposed income tax: Let’s first address the community’s financial health. Beavercreek has fared much better than most communities.
Local, non-cyclical employers such as Wright State University and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base have generally helped to offset weakness. In fact, Wright State, where I have been an associate adjunct professor in the School of Finance for more than a decade, has seen increased enrollment and crowded classrooms. Wright-Patt has benefited from the base realignment. Property values appear to have bottomed and are again rising. There is ample evidence of the housing recovery. So, the point is that the current fiscal issue is a temporary problem, not a structural or permanent problem.
Then how do were address the problem? We can cut spending — which is anathema to most elected officials — or increase income. I am sure the council believes it is frugal with taxpayer dollars and will cite statistics about that frugality. Anecdotal evidence to the contrary is plentiful – in two short words, “golf course” — but there is much additional evidence: to identify waste and fat in city government, many area business people will cite their costly struggles with the city’s mechanistic bureaucracy.
Income taxes encourage waste and they do not solve fiscal problems. I point to the writings of Dr. Jens Arnold, Ph.D., an economist formerly with the World Bank and now with the OECD, who has said that taxes on property are the least damaging and those on corporate profits hurt the most. He believes that consumption taxes are better than income taxes.
In short, Beavercreek's growth over the decades is due, in large part, because it does not have an income tax. This growth has been at the expense of some of its neighbors, but has resulted in higher property values. Why would anyone want to change that? THOMAS MANGAN, BEAVERCREEK
Do students have no moral compass?
As a graduate of the University of Dayton, I was appalled at the “riot” during St. Patrick’s Day. Do our young students have no moral compass? My husband was also a graduate of UD, as are my daughter, her husband, his two sisters and a brother-in-law. I am truly sorry for the stigma that good students must bear because of the bad behavior of some. Do we celebrate a saint’s day, the election of a new pope, and national recognition for UD Arena with the NCAA coming to town by destroying property, creating a disturbance that brings 12 police departments to the campus? Then we say the police may have been too forceful? When students act like street thugs, then they should be treated as such.
With cameras and social media, there should be documentation as to any students who participated in this melee. Those students should be put on probation or removed from UD affiliation. It is time for these hoodlums to take responsibility for their actions and their future resumes should reflect their poor judgment. Thankfully, no one was seriously injured physically, but the emotional toll will last forever. …
I think I speak for many alumni who wonder where the moral compass has gone… perhaps following where family values have gone. PATRICIA DONNELLY LOWE, DAYTON
Speak Up
Why does Clayton think a walking path from the school to the YMCA ("Path seen as safe, sound," April 15) needs workout equipment, fencing,and decorative features? The path along the rest of U.S. 40 and the one along Union Road don't have any such features — they are just paved paths making it safe to walk along the side of the road — and they are in use day and night.
Re "Speeding tickets up 1,400% in Dayton," April 10: Are we all suddenly driving like maniacs, or are the vast majority of us still driving at speeds we deem prudent given the quality engineered into today's roadways and automobiles, with the artificially low speed limits, shortened yellow lights, and speed cameras designed primarily to increase revenue? And note what a small percentage of your fine is for the actual infraction itself.
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