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JACKSON TWP. —
Trustees and officials from Stark County’s four most populous townships were told they needed to use their clout with state legislators at a joint meeting Wednesday.
Officials from the Ohio Township Association said trustees should lean more on the Coalition of Large Urban Townships (CLOUT) to effect state legislation.
Large township voters should have the choice of property or income taxes to fund services, said Jackson Fiscal Officer Randy Gonzalez. “Maybe it wouldn’t work. Maybe the voters would say no,” he said. Currently, townships cannot levy income taxes.
Plain Trustees Louis Giavasis said a lot of retirees might vote for an income tax rather than a property tax, and Perry Fiscal Officer Joe Schlegel said townships need to find a different way to fund services other than increasing taxes. “We have to do something,” Schlegel said. “We have to do it now.”
Voters in larger townships can elect for “home rule,” which gives trustees more authority than smaller entities.
Jackson Trustee James Walters said his township, which has home rule, is larger than 85 percent of the cities in Ohio. “We are not, in fact, a township in the way we operate,” he said.
Trustees and officials from Stark County’s four most populous townships were told they needed to use their clout with state legislators at a joint meeting Wednesday.
Officials from the Ohio Township Association said trustees should lean more on the Coalition of Large Urban Townships (CLOUT) to effect state legislation.
Large township voters should have the choice of property or income taxes to fund services, said Jackson Fiscal Officer Randy Gonzalez. “Maybe it wouldn’t work. Maybe the voters would say no,” he said. Currently, townships cannot levy income taxes.
Plain Trustees Louis Giavasis said a lot of retirees might vote for an income tax rather than a property tax, and Perry Fiscal Officer Joe Schlegel said townships need to find a different way to fund services other than increasing taxes. “We have to do something,” Schlegel said. “We have to do it now.”
Voters in larger townships can elect for “home rule,” which gives trustees more authority than smaller entities.
Jackson Trustee James Walters said his township, which has home rule, is larger than 85 percent of the cities in Ohio. “We are not, in fact, a township in the way we operate,” he said.
