London tax levy may, may not be on ballot
By Jane Beathard
Staff Writer
In the end, they decided not to decide.
London City Council met for two hours Monday to bat around ideas for increasing revenue — especially tax revenue.
No formal agenda existed for the special meeting. Council members discussed a range of topics, including hourly pay for the part-time recreation director’s job and additional work time for an employee of the city tax department.
Mostly, the group focused on possible future tax levys. Suggestions included returning a 0.5 percent income tax levy to the May or November ballot, or asking, voters for an additional property tax to fund the recreation or police departments. Both departments suffered stringent cutbacks in the 2013 city budget.
Any decision by council to place a measure on the May primary ballot must come quickly in order to meet the Feb. 5, 2013 filing deadline, Mayor Dave Eades said.
Council members Stan Kavy and president, John Dixon, said any levy effort will require consensus.
“Unless all seven (council members) agree, there’s no point in running any levy,” Kavy said.
Members Dick Minner and Steve Scaggs opposed placing a 0.5 percent income tax increase to fund the fire department on the Nov. 6 ballot. That issue failed by 374 votes.
On Monday, Kavy demanded to know if Minner and Scaggs would support a renewed push to pass a levy in May.
Scaggs refused to take a position. Minner kept quiet.
A majority of council members agreed to delay any decision on a ballot issue until the city finance committee meets at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 11.
I will never vote yes on a levy for the city of london. I have lived in the same neighborhood for 20 years and our property taxes are 4000 a year, being very very high, we have not even half an acre and the 20 years i have lived there, they have never done one thing to keep up with the roads. They are in absolute horriable shape. Alos the recyclable man is a complete butt head, he will knit pick everything you have and has even put that darn green sticker on stuff that sould be recyclable. I am SICK AND TIRED of him. He throws stuff all in your yard, maybe we should start throwing the stuff that he picks out of ours, into his yard see how he would like that. So they can keep trying as much as they want to pass a levy but it will never happen again. London residents are sick and tired of them foolishly spending their money and are not letting up this time.
I think London could have stickers made at a dollar a piece and the you could still use the trash bags that you want to use, and they fit your trash can, how much does it cost to make thse trash bags compared to ‘London’ stickers? Vote all tax levies down, the hell with london………
Good point and I couldn’t agree with you more!
For those that have forgotten, the trash bags were put into play as a “pay as you go,” and the trash rates were reduced at that time. If you had a large household, and created more trash you paid more because you had to but more bags. The single folks or small households pay less than they used to because they generate less trash. If you are unsatisfied, go to a Board of Public Utilities meeting.
I do think that the City Council members should speak up and say what it is they think we need, or come up with other proposals. By saying nothing, and not coming up with a plan then City Council, our elected representatives, are agreeing with the cuts and with the Auditor. They are not bringing anything new to the people or coming up with better plans.
Reading this chain of comments leads me to conclude that all hope is lost for the City of London if the intellect of those posting here is representative of London’s residents. Here is a lesson in London Government 101:
The Board of Public Utilities – Water, Sewer and Sanitation – is an enterprise entity, created by the City, but is an entirely financially independent entity. The BPU gets its revenue from those that use its services – water usage, sewer usage, trash pickup, recycling pickup, etc. Residents get a monthly bill from the BPU for their water, sewer and trash/recycling pickup. The “trash bag tax” you all refer to was imposed by the BPU, and funds only the BPU and specifically the sanitation department. That money cannot, by law, be used to fund the general operation of the City – Police Fire, etc.
The general fund of the City provides for the operation of the City – the Police, Fire, Street and Recreation Depts., among others. The 1% income tax paid by all income earners in the City funds the operation of the City and its various departments.
The City’s general fund and the BPU’s operating fund are two entirely separate streams of revenues and expenses, and no money ever crosses between the two. So, your beloved “trash bag tax” cannot and will not solve any problems.
To the almighty CBR: there is no need for a condescending and disrespectful tone. I do agree with you on your point of all hope being lost for the city of London; not due to the intellect of the citizens posting but due to the lack of competent leaders and members of our community.
Mary: I was neither disrespectful nor condescending. All we ever read from you is complaints about how poor a job the City’s leaders are doing. Well, here is my challenge to you Mary. RUN FOR OFFICE AND DO A BETTER JOB!! If you are so sure our City’s leaders are incompetent, then you must know what they are doing wrong and therefore the right way to run the City. Step up to the plate and turn the City around. I’ll run your campaign for you.
I complain about our leaders and how pathetic and incompetent they are because it is MY opinion, which by the way I am entitled to. This is a public forum and I am exercising my right of Freedom of Speech. Therefore, if you don’t like my comments DO NOT READ THEM. My views and opinions are not in favor of our leaders. You are clearly a supporter and I am not.
I just may run for office…. thanks for the great idea and you will be the first to know.
Yes, Mary, you have the right to your opinion and to express it, just as I do. The Constitution guarantees both of us that right. You assume that I support our City’s leaders because I have challenged your position. What I do support is taking action instead of merely complaining without offering a solution. Your posts are examples of the latter, in my opinion. And, your attitude, unfortunately, is far too common in our community. Again, since you obviously know better than the City’s leaders how to operate and manage the City, get involved, attend meetings, offer to help, bring your solutions to those leaders and contribute positively and meaningfully to the City.
CBR: How many times have I offered a solution??? Apparently you are not throughly reading my comments. Perhaps you need a Reading Lesson 101. I have said numerous times to continue cutting unnecessary positions to help our budget and so called financial crisis. We have one council member who is on the right track and saved a police officer’s position by cutting back on a less critical job. We need more people like him to be brave and bold enough to take a stand on what is best for our city.
I am thrilled to know my attitude is the more common one in our community. This merely proves my point of the poor job our city leaders are doing. As for attending meetings, I am not so sure I want to participate at this point. Perhaps myself, and other citizens who share my opinion, will revisit participation when there is a change of leadership.
I have to wonder why you are so concerned with MY volunteer work….. maybe you should worry about yourself and how many hours YOU give to our community. I have not contacted the Mayor regarding recreation programs, why would I bother him with this? I would hope he has more important community issues and business to be concerned with . I would go to the Parks and Rec Director first if I needed to contact anyone. But don’t you worry, I have and still do put my time in for this community and our youth.
As I expected, Mary. All talk. No action. Farewell.
Mary: I saw in another thread where the Law Director asked you to contact the Mayor and Safety Service Director about volunteer parents for recreation programs. Have you contacted them? That seems like a nice opportunity to contribute, don’t you think?
Whether it is separate from the operating fund or not, it’s a scam plain and simple. Go ahead and put some of the black bags out, you’ll be charged an extra $4 PER bag. You’re pretty much forced to use this service. You could if you wanted bag your own trash and deliver it to the dump but thats out of the question. Too bad we cant use another service like Waste Management or someone like that (maybe we can, I don’t know).
Also, the recycling program is a joke too. They give you the red and green bins to separate everything but when they come and pick it up its all dumped in together.
Also, on trash/recycling days the recycling blows all over. Several times I put a fairly large rock in the bin to weigh everything down and each time I was given a note stating that the rock wasn’t recyclable.
Please, if you had time to write that note you had time to move the rock.
@ sick and tired, you must be getting a cut of the action on the trash bags. Why didn’t the folks get to vote on that?? Why because it would not have passed… So ‘lets just shove that down their throats…’ Put that on the next ballot…I’m sure that I’m not the only one that feels this way….
As for the past and current levy discussion. I am so sick and tired of reading about the not so hidden agendas of members of our council. Let’s vote to NOT do something so we can protect our vested interest, not very sound thinking there. As council people, they are elected to represent their wards and the people of the ward, not your families and protect your personal interest and revisit grudges and past perceived wrongs. The two councilmen who remained quiet spoke very loudly. They have no interest in the City of London being successful. They want to keep the city the way it was in the fifties, guess what, its 2012, things have changed, what worked in the past won’t work now. It is time for the City to explore other funding options regardless of who will be upset about it. I personally would like for the City to be a great place to live, just like it was in the past. I want OUR community to be a place where people want to live not leave. That can not happen with less police, less firefighters or less recreation. If you won’t support a new levy, come up with a solution to how to provide services without more money and more cuts, get involved in your local government, stand up and speak out.
It wouldn’t matter if citizens of London did go to a meeting and complain…. it wouldn’t change the fact that we are forced to purchase these ridiculous trash bags. Who ever heard of such a thing? I like Fred’s idea of taking all of our trash to the mayor’s house, he might just listen to the people then. I will never support a new levy to hand over more money to be spent foolishly on things as it has been in the past. The way to provide the services is to combine positions, ensure these people actually do their jobs they are paid to do, and to cut the unnecessary positions. There are too many people who work for the city who sit on their bottoms and do as little as possible.
To the trashbag bandwagon. Board of Public utilities (water,trash,sewer) services, functions and purchases have nothing to do with the general fund(police, fire, recreation, building, etc). You don’t like the trash bags? Go to a board of public utilities meeting and complain. Educate yourself on the funding and functions of your local government before you step up on your soapbox. The fact of the matter is, if the board of public utilities needs more money, they increase your rates, do you vote for that, NO. Does city council vote to allow the rate increase, Yes.
The trash bag tax, what a joke. One of the biggest rackets around. I think they are made so cheaply on purpose so when they rip you need to buy more. I say one day we all put our trash in black bags and drop it off at the mayors house.
New trash trucks? And our police department was cut? Wow…… let’s get our priorities straight city council!
No new tax levy please…. I will vote it down again. I say cut more unnecessary positions like they have recently done with the exception of our police department. And like For a Better London says, take it out of the mandatory trash bag fund….. new trash trucks? Really? I think keeping our police officers should be a priority. Such Pitiful leaders we have in this town.
no need for a tax levy, take the money out of the trash bag tax……….sanitation dept is doing great… new trucks and all….