8636-13 Opposing State HB 5 - Laserfiche WebLink

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RESOLUTION NO. 8636-13 BY: Anderson, Bullock, Juris, Madigan, Nowlin, Powers, Smith. A RESOLUTION opposing the State of Ohio's attempt to impose cone-size-fits- all tax code on Ohio Cities as proposed in House Bill 5, which would render powerless the City of Lakewood's right to govern its own finances. WHEREAS, House Bill 5 is being marketed as a tax uniformity bill, but is in reality a Trojan Horse piece of legislation, sneaking pages upon pages of revisions into tax law so that State politicians can plunder Lakewood revenues and withhold Lakewood's cash flow for their own purposes, and WHEREAS, Lakewood City Council and the Mayor last year warned residents that State operatives were laying the groundwork for Governor Kasich to roll over local laws by imposing aState-crafted tax collection scheme, and WHEREAS, only municipalities can ensure the prompt and proper auditing of local tax returns to ensure all applicable deductions and declarations are reported, thus also ensuring that all taxpayers pay their fair share without causing higher costs of compliance for all, and must be able to do so without burdensome and costly restrictions included in House Bi115 created with the only purpose of restricting municipalities from correcting and auditing returns or making assessments; and WHEREAS, only municipalities can and will aggressively pursue those non- compliant and delinquent taxpayers who, by their omission or deliberate deceit, drive up the costs of compliance to all; and WHEREAS, it is now time to re-double our efforts to stop the State's power-grab made evident in HB 5 before it is fast-tracked to adoption, and WHEREAS, State politicians have systematically placed ever-increasing tax burdens on cities with the massive depletion of the local government fund, the abolishment of the estate tax, and the expedited phase-out of tangible personal property tax reimbursements, yet still seek to siphon even more vital dollars from our City through a bill that increases our City's burdens while lessening the State's own; now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY OF LAKEWOOD, STATE OF OHIO: Section 1. That this City Council and Mayor join with countless cities across the state in urgency and confidence to drive back efforts being made by politicians as far away as Franklin and Montgomery counties to invade our Home Rule.