NEWS

Income-tax hike falls short

Joe Williams
Reporter

NEWARK – Newark residents said "no" to increasing their income taxes to repair streets, bridges and sidewalks Tuesday by a final margin of 53.55 percent to 46.45 percent , according to the Licking County Board of Elections.

Unofficially, the tally stands at 5,632 against, and 4,885 in favor. Official results will be certified by the board at a later date.

"It was a close one," said Mayor Jeff Hall, "not as close as I would have liked. I guess I was a little surprised. People say they wanted to pave the streets. I guess they don't want to spend the money for it."

Hall said city streets will continue to deteriorate, in the absence of new funding.

"We'll keep trying to deal with it the best we can," he said.

Councilman Doug Marmie, R-6th Ward, said he was not surprised by Tuesday's vote.

"I think the citizens of Newark feel that we should take care of our priorities," Marmie said, "which are our safety forces and infrastructure, first and foremost, and that we should stay within our means."

Councilwoman Carol Floyd, D-7th Ward, said she was "not surprised, but pretty disappointed. It just means we can't do what we need to do for city streets."

Floyd said that while county voters on Tuesday approved levies for seniors, children's services and the library system, those were not new issues, as was the city income tax increase for streets.

"I think it's the one place people can say 'no' to new taxes," she said.

Newark voters had been asked to raise the city income tax rate by 0.15 percentage points – to increase it to 1.9 percent – to raise $1.6 million annually for road, bridge and sidewalk repair. That would have cost residents $1.25 monthly on every $10,000 worth of earned income, or $75 per year on every $50,000 in earned income.

jwilliams6@newarkadvocate.com

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