Xenia council places 0.24% income-tax increase on November ballot to fund street repairs

City Council on July 24 introduced an ordinance to raise Xenia’s municipal income tax rate by 0.24 percentage points for five years and approved ballot language to send the question to voters on Nov. 4, 2025.

City Manager Brent Merriman told council the increase would “take the city's rate to 2.49%” and that the measure is intended to raise dedicated money for repaving and rehabilitation. Merriman said staff estimates the levy would generate “somewhere in the neighborhood of $2,000,000 annually” and that council has calculated a multi‑year need of “somewhere in the neighborhood of, you know, $40,000,000 at a minimum” to address the city’s street system.

Why it matters: council members and staff said current funding covers many thoroughfares and state routes but is not sufficient to fix neighborhood streets and aging storm‑water and curb systems that contribute to road failure. Finance Director Ryan Duke said Xenia has spent roughly $13 million of city funds and nearly $22 million total (city funds plus grants) on streets in the last decade, but added that “it needs to be 2 or 3 times that in order to actually get into those neighborhood streets.”

Council action and next steps - At the meeting council introduced Ordinance 2025‑18, which would amend sections of the city income‑tax code to increase the rate by 0.24% for five years, with an effective start date mentioned by staff as Jan. 21, 2026 if the measure passes. - Council then voted to table the ordinance so that no further legislative action…