May 9, 2010
NEWS ANALYSIS: Occupation Tax Proposal Exercise in Checks and Balances of Government --- and the Community --- Functioning on Overdrive
By Tony Rutherford
Huntingtonnews.net Reporter
Huntington, WV (HNN) – Coincidentally, the anticipated vote by Huntington City Council to withdraw the administration proposed draft one-percent Occupation Tax comes one day prior to the Primary election. Whether that crossed anyone’s mind in the realm of municipal government (except the councilman seeking the county clerk position) is unknown. Based on public comment, the “nay’s” soundly oppose , resent and threatened to mobilize.
However, as an apparent “ordinance time out” approaches which could allow stakeholders to fully conceptualize their goals for moving the city forward, the ‘time out’ would not be occurring without the co-operation and participation of administration, council members, and community.
First, Mayor Kim Wolfe accepted the challenge and proposed the now infamous tax. No one expected it to be a popular proposal, but how many expected the venomous opposition that culminated in a demonstration by Steel of West Virginia workers --- including the company’s CEO --- in front of City Hall?
During the budget hearings, tax hearings, work sessions, debate, and public comments, the administration and council worked effectively together and for a general purpose --- move the city forward. They had a variety of revenue raising visions, but the debates stayed on point. Knowing that the proposal would be amended, Finance Director Deron Runyon, a self-described numbers guru, displayed (with Mayor Kim Wolfe and Director of Finance and Administration Brandi Jacobs-Jones) the flexibility and transparency necessary to bring the cards to the table, analyze what’s there, and start building a strategy.
Runyon went beyond the call of duty preparing for council members a spread sheet that analyzed a cornucopia of ‘tweaks’ be they adjusting one fee by a percentage and coupling that with a second adjustment to another fee. The result? A projected financial data chart that displayed real numbers, not the usual “about…” And, the analysis provided numbers that allow addition and subtraction of adjustments.
Council members have now advanced various thoughts about the occupation tax proposal. It could return as something less than one percent or with a ‘cap’ of some type. Since an objective of tax reform to make the city more business and employment friendly has been advanced, Finance Director has expressed a willingness to allow all proposals on the table.
Pilot home rule authority allows imposition of a municipal sales tax, but it would place in-city business with another obstacle when competing with those in the county or across the river.
Several citizens and workers speaking at the hearings said they would prefer a one or two dollar a week user fee increase. Williams said that will be examined too. (About fifty cents would cover most of the furlough/cuts, though.)
One recurring comment about the offensive and non-equitable ‘user fee’ has been the willingness of the Wolfe Administration to make it fully transparent. In fact, debates referencing the occupation tax have yielded comments that general fund and/or line items are not as transparent as the user fee has been displayed thanks to the responsiveness of the administration.
Aside from exemptions for poverty level income , fixed incomes and potentially non-residents, the tax reform debate has mostly stressed business tax alterations. Before you state that will not help individuals , the bottom line of business is not simply profit but jobs. Creating more of the latter will add to the population base of the city and in theory add to creativity and diversity by allowing more college graduates to make Huntington their home, rather than a place to be ‘stuck’ in. One of those potentials would contemplate incentives for EXISTING business to expand and remain in the city, not just breaks for new ones. Or, how about another radical on the table proposal --- annexation.
Thus, while polling stakeholders, let’s suggest that the administration and council consider not just Chamber of Commerce and Marshall University input, but ideas from Create Huntington and other organizations. Call it a town meeting on finding the tools to meet the challenges on the table, which emphasizes transparency and downsizes 'player to be named later' procedures.
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NEWS ANALYSIS: Occupation Tax Proposal Exercise in Checks and Balances of Government --- and the Community --- Functioning on Overdrive
By Tony Rutherford
Huntingtonnews.net Reporter
Huntington, WV (HNN) – Coincidentally, the anticipated vote by Huntington City Council to withdraw the administration proposed draft one-percent Occupation Tax comes one day prior to the Primary election. Whether that crossed anyone’s mind in the realm of municipal government (except the councilman seeking the county clerk position) is unknown. Based on public comment, the “nay’s” soundly oppose , resent and threatened to mobilize.
However, as an apparent “ordinance time out” approaches which could allow stakeholders to fully conceptualize their goals for moving the city forward, the ‘time out’ would not be occurring without the co-operation and participation of administration, council members, and community.
First, Mayor Kim Wolfe accepted the challenge and proposed the now infamous tax. No one expected it to be a popular proposal, but how many expected the venomous opposition that culminated in a demonstration by Steel of West Virginia workers --- including the company’s CEO --- in front of City Hall?
During the budget hearings, tax hearings, work sessions, debate, and public comments, the administration and council worked effectively together and for a general purpose --- move the city forward. They had a variety of revenue raising visions, but the debates stayed on point. Knowing that the proposal would be amended, Finance Director Deron Runyon, a self-described numbers guru, displayed (with Mayor Kim Wolfe and Director of Finance and Administration Brandi Jacobs-Jones) the flexibility and transparency necessary to bring the cards to the table, analyze what’s there, and start building a strategy.
Runyon went beyond the call of duty preparing for council members a spread sheet that analyzed a cornucopia of ‘tweaks’ be they adjusting one fee by a percentage and coupling that with a second adjustment to another fee. The result? A projected financial data chart that displayed real numbers, not the usual “about…” And, the analysis provided numbers that allow addition and subtraction of adjustments.
Council members have now advanced various thoughts about the occupation tax proposal. It could return as something less than one percent or with a ‘cap’ of some type. Since an objective of tax reform to make the city more business and employment friendly has been advanced, Finance Director has expressed a willingness to allow all proposals on the table.
Pilot home rule authority allows imposition of a municipal sales tax, but it would place in-city business with another obstacle when competing with those in the county or across the river.
Several citizens and workers speaking at the hearings said they would prefer a one or two dollar a week user fee increase. Williams said that will be examined too. (About fifty cents would cover most of the furlough/cuts, though.)
One recurring comment about the offensive and non-equitable ‘user fee’ has been the willingness of the Wolfe Administration to make it fully transparent. In fact, debates referencing the occupation tax have yielded comments that general fund and/or line items are not as transparent as the user fee has been displayed thanks to the responsiveness of the administration.
Aside from exemptions for poverty level income , fixed incomes and potentially non-residents, the tax reform debate has mostly stressed business tax alterations. Before you state that will not help individuals , the bottom line of business is not simply profit but jobs. Creating more of the latter will add to the population base of the city and in theory add to creativity and diversity by allowing more college graduates to make Huntington their home, rather than a place to be ‘stuck’ in. One of those potentials would contemplate incentives for EXISTING business to expand and remain in the city, not just breaks for new ones. Or, how about another radical on the table proposal --- annexation.
Thus, while polling stakeholders, let’s suggest that the administration and council consider not just Chamber of Commerce and Marshall University input, but ideas from Create Huntington and other organizations. Call it a town meeting on finding the tools to meet the challenges on the table, which emphasizes transparency and downsizes 'player to be named later' procedures.
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