City council will expected to approve the city’s 2021 budget today.
Councilwoman Brenda Frysuggested the city may need to consider cuts in addition to raising the income tax to make the budget sustainable.
“Given the predicament that we’re in, I think it is time to start making those sacrifices purely from the sustainability point of view,” she said.
City leaders pointed out that raising the income tax would bring Riverside up to par with cities like Huber Heights and Dayton. Beavercreek does not have any established income tax but Carpenter pointed out they have higher property taxes.
The raise is needed, Carpenter said, because the cost to operate the city is rising at a time when revenues are not increasing to match it. Revenues are rising by about 1% a year, while the cost to maintain the city’s current staffing levels is going up at a much higher rate. Personnel costs, for example, are rising at 2% per year, while healthcare costs are projected to rise at 11% per year, according to Carpenter.
A 1% increase would bring the revenue levels to sustainable levels through 2029, according to projections Carpenter presented.
Carpenter said during the meeting that police and fire budgets are part of the problem. The police budget alone costs more than $4 million, according to numbers Carpenter presented.
“Police and fire are heavily dependent on the general fund, and it’s not sustainable,” Carpenter said.
Deputy mayor Sara Lommatzsch suggested the city look at ending the current levies that support police and fire, which don’t raise enough money to cover their budgets, and replace those levies with new taxes that generate more money.
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