Youngstown, suburbs differ on regional cooperation

By David Skolnick (Contact)

Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams preaches regionalism while selling a proposal to use city water system to charge an income tax to those working in Austintown and Boardman.

“We want true regional cooperation,” he’s repeatedly said.

Officials in the suburbs heard Williams’ message loud and clear.

The mayor wants regional cooperation and that’s what he’s getting from the suburbs.

The problem for Youngstown is this isn’t the type of regional cooperation its officials want.

Trustees in Austintown, Boardman and Canfield are unified in a regional cooperative effort — against Youngstown and the city’s joint economic development district plan.

Unlike other times in this area when regionalism was just talk, the townships mean business this time.

The three townships hired Albers and Albers, a Columbus law firm that focuses on JEDD proposals as well as incorporation and water districts.

Trustees in Boardman and Austintown adamantly oppose a JEDD with Youngstown.

Canfield Trustee Bill Reese joined them last week in a closed-door meeting with attorneys from Albers and Albers even though his township isn’t part of the JEDD proposal.

The three townships share borders so the proposal could impact Canfield in the future. At one point, Youngstown officials did mention Canfield could be included in the JEDD study.

The townships are sparing no expense to fight the city.

The Columbus firm charges $185 to $215 an hour, depending on the lawyer doing the work. The townships will share the bills. No limit on the expense is set.

Talk of incorporating

Some trustees have talked of incorporating and breaking water ties with Youngstown to form their own districts.

There’s been no talk of the cost estimates on those proposals, but it’s safe to say it could cost millions and millions of dollars.

Here’s an interesting twist to this issue.

There are plenty of those who live in Boardman and Austintown and even Canfield who work in Youngstown.

The residents of those townships who work in Youngstown — I’m one of them — get nothing for that city income tax.

They are paying a 2.75-percent income tax to Youngstown. None of that money goes toward paving roads in Boardman or hiring more police officers in Austintown.

The JEDD plan calls for those in the suburbs and anyone else who works or lives in the city to see a decline in Youngstown income tax from the obscene amount of 2.75 percent to the merely ridiculous rate of 2.25 percent.

Those in Austintown and Boardman would also have the city’s 40-percent water surcharge cut in half.

City officials say they’ll use a variety of economic development tools in the townships that Austintown and Boardman don’t have to spur business growth there.

A look at the city’s anticipated general fund deficit shows that while jobs are created in Youngstown, it’s not enough to cure its financial woes.

In return, Youngstown would impose a 2-percent income tax on workers in Austintown and Boardman. The townships could charge its own 0.25-percent income tax on those same people. If the townships use that money for economic development, Youngstown would agree to match that 0.25-percent tax.

The percentages are negotiable within reason, Williams said.

Income tax beneficiary

It’s easy to see why trustees don’t want more of its residents to pay an income tax with most of the proceeds going to Youngstown.

But in the process of fighting to keep the income tax from coming to their townships, the trustees aren’t helping the residents who make Austintown and Boardman their home who work in Youngstown.

Those township residents pay a higher income tax than what is proposed in the JEDD with absolutely nothing to show for it except a smaller amount of take-home pay.