Athens forum outlines tax measures to build and run new community center ahead of March 19 vote

A public forum hosted by the Athens County League of Women Voters laid out plans for a proposed 50,000-square-foot community center and the two income-tax measures on the March 19 primary ballot that would fund its construction and ongoing operation.

Robert Shostak, identified in the program as a city council member for the 4th Ward, said the two ordinances on the ballot are divided so one (Issue 1) covers construction and would raise roughly $4,000,000 to be paid off over 20 years, while the other (Issue 2) is an ongoing operating income-tax increase. "There are actually 2 ordinances," Shostak said, and he described the construction increase as "0.05 actually, it's 5 hundredths of a percent" and the operating levy as "0.1, which is actually 1 tenth of 1%."

Shostak read examples from a city handout to show taxpayer impact: a household with $100,000 in gross income would pay about $150 per year (about $12.50 per month) for both levies combined; $50,000 would cost roughly $75 per year, and $25,000 about $37.50 per year. He emphasized the levy as an income-tax increase, not a property…