Ravenna considering putting .25 percent income tax increase on the ballot next year

Ravenna City Council on Nov. 3 eyed a .25 percent income tax increase to fund the planning and construction of a new fire station, police station and city hall.

The new complex would be erected at the former Ravenna High School site at Clinton and Main streets and would feature City Hall sandwiched between a new fire station and police station.

Council President Rob Kairis estimated the entire complex could cost $20-$25 million. To pay for it, council members would approve a 30-year bond and use the proceeds from the tax increase—estimated at $1.2 to $1.3 million a year—to service its debt.

The tax increase would “fall off” when the bond is retired, Kairis said.

Maybe not. Kairis recalled news stories about Rittman, Ohio, where voters in 1977 approved a half-percent increase that was to last for 30 years: until 2007. But when Rittman’s tax code was updated in 1996, the end date of the tax increase somehow disappeared. The city continued to collect hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.

City officials discovered the mistake in 2022. Since Ohio law stipulates a one-year statute of limitations on recovering payments of unauthorized income tax, and since the city couldn’t afford to repay the funds, Rittman simply kept the money it had come to count on.

Ravenna’s income tax collections are handled by the Regional Income Tax Authority, which Kairis said can track time-sensitive increases, but he acknowledged that RITA may or may not even exist in 30 years.

“Let’s hope that with technology and other aids, this won’t happen,” he said, referring to Rittman’s situation.

Council members are expected to consider the proposed tax increase in December and to schedule a public hearing before casting their votes early next year. The resolution needs to be finalized by early February if the measure is to appear on the May 2026 ballot.

Also on Nov. 3, council members gave City Engineer Bob Finney the green light to resurface Sycamore Street between Spruce Street and Riddle Avenue with asphalt. Most, but not all, of the bricks will be removed.

To retain some of Sycamore’s historic character, council members directed Finney to retain the old trolley tracks that run down the center of the road and to have them frame a strip of the original bricks.

Kairis recalled that a few years ago, when council was debating a similar project on Freedom Street, city leaders learned that keeping the bricks cost three times as much as removing them and paving the roadway.

In that instance, the city decided to keep the bricks.

No cost estimate has been provided yet. Work is expected to begin sometime in 2026.

Council is also eying 2.5 acres off West Main Street to add to a proposed park slated to stretch from West Main Street to Highland Avenue.

The land would be added to three parcels the late Jerome T. Osborne, Sr. deeded to the city in 2014 for a park. If the deal can be completed, Osborne Park would be bounded by Main Street and Highland, with access to Sycamore Street.

The parcel the city is eying is currently owned by Norfolk Southern Railroad, which Kairis said wants a separate piece of land the city owns. 

Finney said he has reached out to the railroad “several times,” but has been unable to reach a deal. Now, though, the city has something the railroad wants: a piece of land at the corner of Lake Avenue and the railroad. 

That being the case, Finney pronounced himself “cautiously optimistic” and said he may hear from Norfolk Southern within the week. The city and railroad may agree on an even swap or may have to negotiate both purchases, Finney and Kairis said.

In other business, Council:

• Authorized transferring $120,000 from its water tank contingency fund to the ongoing Central, Freedom, Spruce and Walnut paving/infrastructure project. Finance Director Tami Lorence said the water tower project came in under budget so moving the funds to the roads project creates no hardship. The water tower building project remains underway. 
  
• Approved $12,790 for a new website, with maintenance and support services; $10,548 for a new phone alerts and notifications system; and $63,846 for a new phone system. Lorence said the new cloud-based phone system will be more efficient and ultimately more cost-effective.