NWOTCA

MEETING DATE: 03/09/05

The meeting was called to order at 9:30 a.m. in the Bowling Green Municipal Building.

Update on legislation/OML news

Additional notes on what speakers reported at the OML Income Tax Committee Meeting held in Columbus on Friday, February 4, 2005:

v They intend to “shock the system” on taxes

v Questioning of home rule authority

v The Chamber of Commerce is advocating state collection of local taxes

v Discussion of completely doing away with local taxes

v If local taxes are continued, base it on where you live, not where you work

v Cuts in the Local Government Fund – 20% for cities & counties, 10% for villages & townships, and 5% for libraries

v Basing the Schedule Y allocation formula on just one factor, sales, instead of the three factors currently being used.

At a more recent OML group meeting, there was discussion on the annual OML tax meeting that will be held this year at the Cleveland Marriott in downtown Cleveland July 20-22.

A chart is available online showing how much each municipality would have to increase their tax revenues in order to make up for the amount of revenue they could lose through the proposed Local Government Fund cuts. Website address is www.mvrpc.org.

Doug said he has heard rumors of the $150 De Minimus Rule being re-enacted. There is also a proposal that a non-resident would not have to pay unless they owe more than $50.

Uniformity Discussion

The Real Estate Committee is scheduled to meet at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, March 23^rd in Maumee.

Ohio Business Gateway

Some cities are getting word that in addition to the regular charge for ACH transactions, they will be charged $15 for each file the bank has to process. Angie suggested that everyone contact their bank to find out exactly what charges will be incurred when the Ohio Business Gateway activates its municipal program.

Information Exchange

Jean (Perrysburg), Mike (Maumee), Clarence (Toledo), and Pat (Oregon) met on February 25^th with Paul Kozlowski, a consultant engaged by the City of Toledo to do a study on business tax revenue. Discussion covered several points:

v Inequalities existing within the business section. Banks, check cashing services, hospitals, trucking companies (i.e. UPS, FedEx, & Roadway), and insurance companies (health & life insurance) are exempt from taxation by municipalities.

v The effect of State legislation on a municipality’s share of the local government fund, estate taxes, personal property taxes, and franchise taxes.

v Paul asked if it was possible to live with no business tax and have it replaced with something else. How would municipalities fit into the State’s concept of taxing gross business revenue?

Open Problems and Questions

We discussed options for credit card payments. One of the better options appears to be with a company called Official Payments used by the City of Toledo. There is no charge to the city; the charge is paid by the user and is called a “convenience fee”.

There was discussion on how municipalities deal with Non-Resident Refunds for over-the-road drivers. Some cities refund the entire amount withheld; others keep 20% and refund the other 80% back to the taxpayer.

A question was asked regarding what figure to use as taxable income from a taxpayer employed by one of the railroads since their W-2s are unlike most other entities. The answer was to use Box 5 or Box 18.

Next Meeting

The next meeting has been rescheduled. Instead of meeting on Wednesday, May 11^th, we will meet on Wednesday, May 18^th at 10:00 a.m. in Port Clinton.