City Council - Special

200 South Hamilton Road City of Gahanna Gahanna, Ohio 43230 Meeting Minutes City Council - Special Brian Metzbower, President Stephen A. Renner, Vice President Karen J. Angelou Brian D. Larick Jamie Leeseberg Nancy R. McGregor Michael Schnetzer Kimberly Banning, Clerk of Council Monday, January 7, 2019 6:30 PM City Hall, Council Chambers A. CALL MEETING TO ORDER - Roll Call. Gahanna City Council met in Special Session on Monday, January 7, 2019, in Council Chambers of City Hall, 200 South Hamilton Road, Gahanna, Ohio. President of Council, Brian Metzbower, called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. Agenda for this meeting was published on January 4, 2019. Present 7 - Brian D. Larick, Jamie Leeseberg, Stephen A. Renner, Michael Schnetzer, Nancy R. McGregor, Brian Metzbower, and Karen J. Angelou B. PUBLIC HEARING - ORD-0116-2018 TO AMEND SECTION 161.081, CREDIT FOR TAX PAID TO ANOTHER MUNICIPALITY, OF CHAPTER 161, INCOME TAX, OF THE CODIFIED ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF GAHANNA President Metzbower read rules. Opened Public Hearing at 6:30 p.m. Michelle Hill, 399 Woodside Meadows Place, moved to Gahanna couldn’t ask for better schools; 3 parks by their home; her son loves it; proponent of tax pay to pay for these services; works in Columbus; she paid 3.5% income tax and didn’t get the level of service she has here; does not envy the position Council is in right now. Jim Damratoski, 436 Kasons Way, understands the need for additional funds and that Gahanna’s revenue sources haven’t kept up; said it’s dangerous to implement a de facto tax that only affects some residents; should be shared equally; very supportive voted on tax across Gahanna; what he heard by people the in opposition was trust and partnership issues; he doesn’t share that opinion; citizens will see that cuts have been made; would like to see levy back on; truly need a voted upon tax. City of Gahanna Page 1 City Council - Special Meeting Minutes January 7, 2019 Rick Duff, 312 Dunbarton Rd, suggested going back on the ballot with a proposed income-tax rate increase in the May primary with a 100 percent credit, if it were to pass; if the issue would fail, Council could stipulate the city’s credit would be reduced to 50 percent; it was an extremely close vote; see this as being the best solution; it gives a choice; it gives people a chance to vote on it; 3 Council seats are up this fall; take into consideration what is best for the City without coming across negatively; he doesn’t think we can get by with anything less than 2.5% increase; same income level we were at 10 yrs ago; with other cuts he believes that’s the only way to handle this; failed by 145 votes; thanked everyone for what they are doing for the City. Jeannie Hoffman, 708 Waybaugh Dr., opposed to changing the credit like this; she doesn’t think this is the right way to go; go to the no voters and earn their trust; 2% increase and 90% credit. Kelly Natale Koppel, 746 Ridenour Rd, does not have prepared statement; wife of a man who grew up in this town; 3 generations in the City; picked this community after looking everywhere; after looked in Gahanna that was it; parks, great schools, so much good; live in Woodside Green; walk to amazing park; bike to see relatives; can’t put a price on this; she feels attached; feels like everything is being pulled away from everything she has grown to cherish; she doesn’t want to be forced out of this town; please save this town. Brenda Hoffman, 279 Highmeadow Dr, for and against; had problems years ago with the snow plow pushing snow into someone’s driveway; she was told that there was no way to determine the amount; since that time haven’t trusted the City since then; when it comes to food and money when in doubt throw it out; nothing will happen unless personnel is cut. Bernard Helfrich, 530 Clotts Rd, he thinks his is a backdoor way of doing this and agrees with other people it’s not the right way to go. Diana Redman, 598 Codrington Cir, she thinks just making this a code change would be best; we need to present it more openly; she didn’t think that she saw this published in the paper; Larick said this is the first of 3 public hearings. Penny Monahon Becker, 337 Wittenberg, lived here for 42 hours; seen both good and bad times; torn on this issue; hopeful the levy would have passed; she believes that people didn’t understand the need; feel unsettled issues with new logo and tax lawsuit; being here, her entire life; moved back to her old neighborhood; she wants to see it succeed and do well; she wants to see the city get money to thrive; people need to see how dire our finances are. City of Gahanna Page 2 City Council - Special Meeting Minutes January 7, 2019 Robert Poe, 499 Doventry Lane, one thing came to mind; didn’t remember hearing it mentioned; public doesn’t understand; this is not related to school levies; why does the City need more money; point out that the school and this levy are two separate things entirely. John Stewart, 855 Bryn Mawr Dr; always for lower taxes; Council is getting it out there for discussion; credit to him is an encouragement to increase taxes; no credit incentive to keep taxes lower; Dublin have 35K in a rainy day fund; 2/3 of their residents work outside their population; like to go to see credit go to zero; he thinks it would encourage people to live and work here. President Metzbower closed Public Hearing at 7:05 p.m. Metzbower said this is to start having the conversation with the public; too important an issue not to have a conversation with as many residents as possible; invited everyone to attend the Finance Meeting tonight. C. ADJOURNMENT. by Renner at 7:07 p.m. City of Gahanna Page 3