Council votes to increase city property tax

CINCINNATI, OH (FOX19) - Cincinnati City Council voted Wednesday to increase property tax in the city by about $10 a year for a $100,000 home.

Council was scheduled to vote on the tax increase on Tuesday, but delayed the vote until Wednesday during a special meeting. The Budget and Finance Committee voted in favor of the increase by a vote of 6-3. The proposal then went to full council for approval.

Mayor Mark Mallory has said that if the increase didn't pass, police jobs could be on the line.

FOP President Kathy Harrell said she received a call from the Mayor on Monday.

"He wanted to inform me that there's the possibility of layoffs again and that the recruit class probably will not be hired to start in 2013," said Harrell.

Harrell says police officers have not received a raise since the end of 2010 and have extended their contract without increases through May of 2014.

While council raised the property tax millage rate from 5.9 to 6.25 on the capital side, they did not increase property taxes on the operational side. The property tax rate for the city's operational budget stands at 4.6 mills.

While ten dollars may not be much in the eyes of some property owners, others warn it could hurt property owners already fighting to stay afloat.

"It can be devastating just depending over the long term if you're already struggling to maintain your mortgage," Cincinnati property owner Nattasha Blevins said.

"My wife and I are getting a little bit older, we're trying to enjoy our life not give it to the government or the city," fellow property owner Bill Crawford stated.

Others say the increase would sit better with them if they felt council members had a better track record of being good stewards of tax payer money.

"If I though the city was being run as economically as it should I don't think it would be as much of a hardship and it would be our part to pitch in," Tim Selnick said. "I down know, however, if that's necessarily the case."

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