MEDINA, Ohio — In an effort to ensure the city has funds available for capital improvements, the city’s finance committee has agreed to amend the allocation of income tax dollars.
“After spending time talking about sidewalk improvements, I think it makes sense that we need to have money in our account for capital improvements,” Council President John Coyne said.
Coyne said that the city’s current income tax collection is around $21 million and 40 percent of that collection, or roughly $8.4 million goes to the police department. Coyne recommended changing the allocation to the police department to 38 percent and reallocating an additional 1 percent to the general fund and the other 1 percent to general purpose capital expenses.
“The police department would still get an ample amount for their budget, and they do have ample saved up in carry forward funds,” he said.
Coyne said he wants to make sure all departments are properly funded but added that with income tax revenue increasing over the years, he thinks it makes sense to put some money aside for capital improvement projects.
“We need to take a look at this every year and make sure we plan correctly going forward so we don’t reach financial issues in the future,” he said.
Mayor Jim Shields said he has talked to Police Chief Ed Kinney, and he said they understand the reasoning behind the reallocation.
“We used to have a list of all the capital improvement projects we wanted to focus on and there are other things in the city I want to start getting in front of you,” Shields told council.
Coyne said he thought it makes sense to spend the next couple of months to schedule committee of the whole meetings so council can discuss potential capital improvement projects that are needed in the city.