Local Ohio income tax question (Cleveland, Dayton: sales, credit, homes)

[gmgenova]

I know each municipality may have different tax rules. I wanted to ask this as a general question. Can school district tax taken out of a paycheck be credited on a local return to a municipality?

[EarthBound?]

Originally Posted by gmgenova

I know each municipality may have different tax rules. I wanted to ask this as a general question. Can school district tax taken out of a paycheck be credited on a local return to a municipality?

No, not in Ohio. They want to squeeze every dime they can out of the working people.

[gmgenova]

Thanks SeabeeBolt.

[Ohiogirl81]

Originally Posted by gmgenova

Can school district tax taken out of a paycheck be credited on a local return to a municipality?

Two separate taxes. You pay the tax to your school district, no matter what.

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by SeabeeBolt

No, not in Ohio. They want to squeeze every dime they can out of the working people.

You seem to be so unhappy.

There are 49 other states, most of them with lower taxes. Contrary to popular belief, they don't stop you when you head out of state.

[Donna7]

Originally Posted by jlawrence01

You seem to be so unhappy.

There are 49 other states, most of them with lower taxes. Contrary to popular belief, they don't stop you when you head out of state.

Well, let's not blame Seebeebolt for Ohio's squeezing out every penny they can, as it IS the truth.

A few years ago, our school district (taxpayers) voted for a school income tax levy. This was supposed to replace the property tax levy once it ran out the following year. Well, guess what? Our County just increased our property taxes because they reappraised our property and raised our property value. Ha ha! Our property value is not even close to that (it is much lower). If the county can find a buyer(s) to buy our property for the amount they have appraised, that would be great. The truth of the matter is that there are homes in our area that have not sold for 2-3 years....there is no way that the values have increased. People can also go to Zillow.com and get an estimate.

By the way, there were literally hundreds of property owners practically rioting at our county seat at the beginning of January. I sent a letter in response to our reappraisal (as we're supposed to do this if we disagree). It didn't help at all, as nothing was responded to and the increase is there anyways in our tax bill.

P.S. - as far as paying property taxes to fund public school education, our children go to Catholic parochial schools and have gone there for the last 18 years. We have no problem paying property taxes to fund schools, however, but it's gotten to the point where there are a bunch of liars running things. I'm not saying Ohio has the inventory on liars, but this whole school district tax business vs. property tax business to fund the schools, plus everything else, is getting to be just a little too much. A little accountability might go a long way about now.

[Crew Chief]

AMEN, Donna7! My frustration is that we live in the same county as Dayton. At the risk of sounding elitist, I feel like "regionalization" is a way to make those that are more successful pay for the bloated, mismanaged big cities. Seems like every county-wide levy disproportionately pays for benefits for Daytonians, yet we in the suburbs get to pony up... (We're facing a levy for a county library when we have our own township library that MORE than meets our needs.)

Having said that, I support our township levies for pretty much everything, because I believe our trustees are fiscally conservative and our school district spends it's money wisely.

As for our homeowner's assesment, I think it's about right. (I'm also glad we won't be selling anytime soon...)

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by Donna7

Well, let's not blame Seebeebolt for Ohio's squeezing out every penny they can, as it IS the truth.

P.S. - as far as paying property taxes to fund public school education, our children go to Catholic parochial schools and have gone there for the last 18 years. We have no problem paying property taxes to fund schools, however, but it's gotten to the point where there are a bunch of liars running things. I'm not saying Ohio has the inventory on liars, but this whole school district tax business vs. property tax business to fund the schools, plus everything else, is getting to be just a little too much. A little accountability might go a long way about now.

I am an Ohio native and I was living in the Cleveland area for years so I am intimately aware with Ohio's confiscatory tax system. Back then, I was paying 2% local taxes to Elyria, well over 1% to Lakewood (after all credits) as well as a high Ohio state income tax rate that penalizes you substantially for being married.

Since my wife and I worked several part-time jobs IN ADDITION TO full-time jobs, we would work in 8-10 Cleveland area municipalities. Therefore, when it came to tax time, we would file married filed separately for state and federal and as many as a DOZEN local returns. Fortunately, I am a CPA so all the tax reporting was no problem.

When my company asked me to relocate to Chicagoland, I e-mailed the Illinois CPA Society to ask about Illinois state and local taxes. I received a one-line response, "Illinois has a 3% income tax rate." So I e-mailed back, "What about local income tax?" None. We saved $6k the first year in local taxes. (By the way, the local sales tax rate was the same as Cuyahoga County and the property taxes here were $25 more than my place in Lakewood.)

Most people like to complain about taxes but then you ask them when the last time they made it to a city council meeting. And teh answer is generally "never". I will tell you one thing. All the representatives of the municipal and teachers unions are there in force to make sure that they get their share of the municipal revenues.

[NewToCA]

Originally Posted by jlawrence01

Fortunately, I am a CPA so all the tax reporting was no problem.

When my company asked me to relocate to Chicagoland, I e-mailed the Illinois CPA Society to ask about Illinois state and local taxes. I received a one-line response, "Illinois has a 3% income tax rate." So I e-mailed back, "What about local income tax?" None. We saved $6k the first year in local taxes. (By the way, the local sales tax rate was the same as Cuyahoga County and the property taxes here were $25 more than my place in Lakewood.)

Most people like to complain about taxes but then you ask them when the last time they made it to a city council meeting. And teh answer is generally "never". I will tell you one thing. All the representatives of the municipal and teachers unions are there in force to make sure that they get their share of the municipal revenues.

OK, since you are a CPA this state comparison data from 2006 should be of interest to you too.

It shows that per capita, Ohio and local governments collected $3,773 per capita, while Illinois collected $4,081. Though Ohio citizens pay more in income taxes, Illinois citizens more than offset this through higher property tax payments:

State and Local General Revenue, Per Capita, 2004-2006

[South Range Family]

Originally Posted by Crew Chief

AMEN, Donna7! My frustration is that we live in the same county as Dayton. At the risk of sounding elitist, I feel like "regionalization" is a way to make those that are more successful pay for the bloated, mismanaged big cities. Seems like every county-wide levy disproportionately pays for benefits for Daytonians, yet we in the suburbs get to pony up... (We're facing a levy for a county library when we have our own township library that MORE than meets our needs.)

Having said that, I support our township levies for pretty much everything, because I believe our trustees are fiscally conservative and our school district spends it's money wisely.

As for our homeowner's assesment, I think it's about right. (I'm also glad we won't be selling anytime soon...)

I completely agree with you about regionalization, Crew Chief. I live in a financially solvent school district. We recently had a report sent to us that said we are operating in the black without State funding. If they happen to send what is promised, we will be doing even better. Our school board is very good at taking care of our money. In return, we pass the rare levies that they put on the ballot.

We only have one school district as a buffer between us and the Youngstown City Schools. Youngstown is an academic, and financial failure. Their answer to city school problems is to regionalize, and steal money from the entire surrounding area. They must get their ideas from the Mayor of Youngstown. He sees the entire County as his personal cash cow that is only in existence to finance the city. Someday he will figure out that there is a reason most of us live outside of the city limits, and that those limits were put in place for a reason.