By Dustin Ensinger
Staff Writer
In an effort to comply with recent changes in state law, the city of Reynoldsburg is preparing to implement some mandated changes to its tax code that could impact its finances.
One of the major changes will allow businesses owners to carry net operating losses forward beginning in tax year 2017.
Another change will affect “occasional entrants,” or people that do not work in the city on a permanent basis.
Under current state law, workers in such a situation are not obligated to pay income taxes until they have worked in a municipality for 12 days. Once that point is reached, all their income earned in the city is subject to taxation.
The change in state law would lengthen the number of days to 20, and workers’ wages would be subject to income tax from day 21 forward.
Auditor Richard Harris expressed concern in April about the changes, which also includes increased fees for late payments. However, he told Reynoldsburg City Council it has no choice but to make the changes, otherwise the city is not allowed to collect an income tax.
“This is kind of important,” Harris said.
Road salt
The city took its first step toward locking in a price on road salt for the upcoming winter.
Council approved an emergency measure to allow Mayor Brad McCloud to enter into a contract with Compass Minerals America, Inc. for the purchase of up to 3,000 tons of road salt.
The cost is $69.22 per ton, down from $138 per ton the previous winter.
“The pricing for the upcoming winter is more favorable than last year,” Nathan Burd, the city’s director of public service wrote in a memorandum to council. “There are also no serious concerns of a salt shortage this year, so we are confident we will have what we need to treat the roads during the 2015-16 snow season.”
The city entered last winter with about 1,400 tons of salt, about 500 tons less than the amount used during a typical winter. Officials were forced to purchase an additional 500 tons in February.
The lack of available supply last year was due to an unseasonably high amount of snow accumulation in the 2013-14 winter season, causing the cost to rise exponentially.
The salt will be purchased through a cooperative program, SWOP4G, which is comprised of 73 entities.
The city is not required to purchase all 3,000 tons. However, by approving the measure, it reserves the right to do so.
Code compliance enforcement
From May through July, the city’s code compliance department issued 842 new complaints, 799 of which were substantiated. The city’s two-man staff also completed nearly 2,000 property maintenance inspections over that same time frame.
