GOP leader says Salem tax issue is OK

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Dave Johnson

By D.A. Wilkinson

wilkinson@vindy.com

SALEM

Columbiana County Republican Party Chairman David W. Johnson said Wednesday that there is no problem with the proposed reinstatement of Salem’s income-tax credit.

Johnson, a businessman and Salem resident, issued the statement after city officials began to question the meaning of the issue.

Johnson and others put an issue on the ballot earlier this year after city council repealed the 1 percent tax break for residents who work outside the city.

“The ordinance voters are being asked to approve would merely reinstate the city’s 40-year practice of issuing a tax credit, strictly on the amount of taxes a tax filer would owe the city of Salem but which he or she is paying in the community in which he or she works,” Johnson said.

Both the ballot language and the petition language in question state that residents living in Salem but working outside of Salem shall be entitled to “a full credit on the total amount of income taxes paid on taxable income to another municipality or political subdivision, not to exceed the amount of the Salem income tax in effect.”

Adam Booth, director of the Columbiana County Board of Elections, said that the information people see on ballots are condensed versions of the entire issue created by the election board. Booth said that complete copies of the initiative will be in each Salem precinct for voters to read before they vote.

City Law Director Brooke Zellers said he has contacted state election officials to get information on the issue.

“Very clearly, the governing language in the body of this petition, and the actual ordinance that voters are being asked to approve at the ballot, is for a tax credit on the amount of tax liability you have in Salem, not a tax refund on the amount of tax you may pay outside of Salem,” Johnson said.

The language used in the Salem Income Tax Credit petition is identical to one that is being proposed in Lorain, Ohio. The lawyer who prepared that language authorized the use of the same language for Salem, Johnson said.

“Our re-examination of these two ballot petitions confirms that Salem’s petition language is virtually identical to Lorain’s,” Johnson said.