North Ridgeville finance committee reviews proposal to raise municipal income tax to 1.75% to shore up future budgets

Financial Director April Wilkinson told the North Ridgeville Finance Committee on July 16 that the city faces a projected general-fund shortfall beginning in 2027 and presented a proposal to raise the municipal income tax rate from 1% to 1.75% to stabilize finances.

Wilkinson said the increase would be expected to generate roughly $6.3 million a year and that under the proposal 85% of the additional revenue would be used for the general fund while 15% would be directed to capital improvements and debt. She told committee members that under the city's current five-year forecast "the excess revenue over expenses becomes negative again in 2027," and that the city could exhaust carryforward balances in later years if revenue and spending trends continue.

The proposal is a response to multiple pressures the presenters described: continued community growth, rising operating costs, deferred capital needs such as waterline and sanitary sewer work, road reconstruction, and the need to maintain the city's current credit rating. "This proposal is to secure our position for the community to provide the essential services of a growing community and to provide what our safety forces need," Wilkinson said. She reminded committee members that Moody's, the rating agency, had highlighted the…