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RESOLUTION NO. 2008-16 INTRODUCED BY: Mayor Rinker and Council as a Whole AN EMERGENCY RESOLUTION IN OPPOSITION TO HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES BILL 3359. WHEREAS, the Regional Income Tax Agency (R.I.T.A.), operating as an Ohio Regional Council of Governments, administers municipal income tax for 139 municipalities and 9 Joint Economic Development Districts (JEDDs) in the State of Ohio; and WHEREAS, it is the intent of the H.R. 3359 to limit the authority of state and local governments to tax certain income; and WHEREAS, RITA objects to H.R. 3359 because it prohibits municipalities from taxing the income of non-resident workers performing duties within their borders for 60 days or less on an annual basis; and WHEREAS, the bill defines a "day" as follows: "An employee will be considered physically present and performing duties in a State or locality for a day if the employee performs more than 50 percent of the employee's employment duties in such State or locality for such day"; and WHEREAS, for many types of workers, the administrative burden to verify the accuracy of an employee's definition of a work day would be overwhelming; and WHEREAS, on March 11, 2008, officials from Michigan, Missouri, Ohio and Pennsylvania met with the staff of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law to communicate the negative impact of H.R. 3359 on municipal income tax revenues; and WHEREAS, H.R. 3359 erodes municipalities' rights to self-governance and diminishes their largest source of funding when already struggling to deliver public services with stagnant or dwindling tax revenue; and WHEREAS, R.I.T.A. municipalities derive the lion's share of revenue from local income tax; and WHEREAS, over 68% of income tax revenue comes from employee withholding and the percentage of that revenue from non-resident employees ranges from 63% to 89%; and WHEREAS, as Ohio's economy continues to sputter, any reduction to this revenue would be devastating to local governments; and WHEREAS, other groups expressing their opposition to H.R. 3359 include The U.S. Conference of Mayors, National League of Cities, the National Association of Counties, the Michigan Municipal League, and the Ohio Municipal League; and WHEREAS, at this time, Mayfield Village desires to express its opposition to H.R. 3359.