CLEVELAND, Ohio – North Olmsted residents will get some relief on next year’s tax bills.The city’s council voted 4 to 3 to reduce 0.3 of its total 8.3 outside mills, foregoing about $326,000 in revenue but saving residents about $21 on a home valued around $200,000.The average home value in North Olmsted is $250,000.Councilmembers Chris Glassburn, Mark Madden, Mary Ellen Hemman and Chris Scarl voted in favor of the reduction last week, while Mary Gilchrist, Paul Shymske and Duane Limpert voted against i...
CLEVELAND, Ohio – North Olmsted residents will get some relief on next year’s tax bills.
The city’s council voted 4 to 3 to reduce 0.3 of its total 8.3 outside mills, foregoing about $326,000 in revenue but saving residents about $21 on a home valued around $200,000.
The average home value in North Olmsted is $250,000.
Councilmembers Chris Glassburn, Mark Madden, Mary Ellen Hemman and Chris Scarl voted in favor of the reduction last week, while Mary Gilchrist, Paul Shymske and Duane Limpert voted against it.
Glassburn, who had originally proposed a greater cut, said he was glad to get residents some kind of relief and hoped it set an example for other communities.
“Doing what you can to help residents afford to stay in their own homes should always be a priority,” Glassburn told cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer on Monday. “Any government saying it has to charge a 30% increase in a single year has lost sight of what matters and needs to work harder on their budget.”
The decision not to collect the city’s taxes in full came despite the city’s finance director advising against it. Carrie Copfer previously warned councilmembers about “uncertainties” in the city’s budget.
The city was expected to collect up to an additional $2.4 million next year due to the higher appraisals, but Copfer said the general fund was down $1.5 million in 2023 and was running behind again in 2024.
Certifying the annual tax rates is usually perfunctory. But after a county-wide property appraisal sent home values soaring an average of 32% across the county, raising taxes for many who were already struggling amid high inflation, some community leaders asked if government budgets could do with less money so that residents could keep more.
Cuyahoga County, as a whole, briefly considered foregoing some of the $12 million in additional funds it expects to bring in next year because of the higher property valuations. But county council quickly dismissed the idea after the chief fiscal officer noted the county is already running in a deficit and projected it will continue in the new year.
Last week, however, Councilman Patrick Kelly voted against collecting taxes at the full rate, saying he was in favor of reducing some of the inside mills supporting the general fund to save residents money.
Other communities had until Monday to decide whether to collect their full taxes or give some back to residents. Cleveland.com asked the county how many of the 58 cities, villages and townships had locked in their rates by the deadline, but the county was not able to immediately verify.
As of Monday, only North Olmsted had chosen to change their rates, the county said.
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