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Senator will hear Boardman sales-tax plan
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State Sen. Joe Schiavoni of Canfield, D-33rd
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Special to the Vindicator
Boardman Administrator Jason Loree has set goals for himself and his colleagues that include regional planning and reanalyzing the town's current budget plans to better prepare for next fiscal year.
BOARDMAN
A state senator has agreed to hear Boardman’s proposal for a township sales tax.
Boardman Trustees Brad Calhoun and Tom Costello and Administrator Jason Loree met last week with state Sen. Joe Schiavoni of Canfield, D-33rd.
Loree also met Wednesday with other township officials that are part of the Coalition of Large Ohio Urban Townships in Columbus.
Townships cannot levy a sales or income tax, but Boardman and other large townships with business corridors want to change state law so that it would be permissible.
Schiavoni said he will set up an “interested-party meeting” soon, before any type of legislation is proposed in the General Assembly. Those interested parties would include the Boardman Township trustees, other township trustees and Ohio county commissioners.
“I want to know are there any other townships in that same situation before we do anything. I talked to [Boardman officials] about getting some language together. I have no problem doing that,” Schiavoni said.
He added that he has been told the County Commissioners Association of Ohio does not support giving townships the ability to levy a sales tax, primarily because it would hurt counties’ ability to get a sales tax approved by voters.
“I want to get the whole picture,” Schiavoni said. “With this type of legislation, you can really get people fired up.”
Loree said that members of CLOUT are interested in reading a draft of the legislation to know exactly what’s being proposed. Schiavoni said he’s willing to work with Boardman and other township officials, but he still has concerns.
“The problem I have with it is with giving another branch of government the ability to tax,” Schiavoni said.