Q & amp; A Income tax

A couple of questions that have been asked about Youngstown's proposed half-percent income tax increase, and answers.
Q. What is the tax for?
A. The tax would raise about $7.2 million a year. Police would get 45 percent to pay for officers. Fire would get 35 percent to pay firefighters. The remaining 20 percent would go in to the capital improvements fund. The money would be used to pay for items such as street repair and equipment.
Q. What about the last quarter-percent income tax that was approved in 1996?
A. That tax also was dedicated to police, fire and capital improvements. The tax generated $2.8 million a year when collection started in 1997 and now generates about $3.2 million a year. The police and fire department budgets combined total about $25.6 million, so the dedicated tax makes up only a small portion of the safety forces' budgets.
Source: City of Youngstown