Tuesday evening, Circleville Council had no legislation to pass....but plenty of discussion on a budget shortfall.
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For most of two hours, finance chair Barry Keller led a review of the 2019 budget. It needs drastic cuts totaling almost $2,000,000 to keep the city in the black, as required by the state.
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Keller said the budget been increasingly dire, and is now the worst since 2007. But he said the committee is hoping voters will support giving more of their own money to maintain funding for one important - and expensive - part of city government: safety forces, the police and fire personnel.
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To raise funds as soon as possible - October 1st - the city would have to pay $10,000 to $12,000 for an August special election to ask voters to raise the income tax from 2% to 2.5%. But that should raise about $1,500,000 over the first three years.
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Council will allow the tax legislation to go all three reads, but the revised budget must be passed in the next session.
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Kevin Coleman regularly reports on Chillicothe & Circleville councils and local culture