Cincinnati's Tax Budget

By Wayne Lippert

This was my response to a proposal by the administration to raise the property tax to the maximum allowable rate

Rather than accepting the recommendation of the Administration to raise the millage to the maximum amount without scrutiny, we should take this opportunity to look at our city's operations and decide whether this is truly necessary. We should not continue to give our city government more money when it has shown that it cannot responsibly manage the tax dollars that it already has. City Hall needs to fundamentally change the way it operates by cutting unnecessary programs, streamlining operations and consolidating duplicative agencies with the county while allowing the private sector to take over services that it can provide more efficiently and effectively.

As the city's revenue has declined in recent years, instead of thoroughly examining our government to find innovative efficiencies, some on council have continually recommended that we pile fees and taxes upon our citizens. I will not punish the taxpayers for the city's inability to get its fiscal house in order.

It is true that previous councils have set the precedent of adjusting the millage rate to ensure that the city receives the same amount of revenue from property taxes, but I believe giving more revenue to City Hall is akin to giving drugs to a drug addict. Some argue that given the current economic situation in our county, the City should make sure it does not cut revenue until the economy has fully recovered. But raising the millage to maintain the same level of tax revenue is a problem because it relies on future councils to reduce the millage level when property values recover. We know how difficult it is to achieve consensus at the city, and I do not trust future councils to do this.

I will continue to oppose any proposal to raise taxes because City Council's inability to produce a structurally balanced budget should not be corrected by increasing the tax burden on the already overtaxed residents who choose to live in the city. We do not have a revenue problem in Cincinnati. We have a spending problem, and I will be leading the way on City Council to make the difficult decisions that will allow us to structurally balance our budget without punishing the taxpayers.