June 23, 2011
Bexley to ask for higher income tax By JEFF DONAHUE ThisWeek Community Newspapers
Bexley City Council is prepared to put an issue on the November ballot that will increase the municipal income tax from 2 percent to 2.5 percent, allowing a 65percent credit for residents who work outside the city. At council’s June 14 meeting, Ben Kessler, chairman of the finance and judiciary committee, came up just one vote short of unanimous approval for the tax increase in an informal discussion of the issue. Council member Richard Sharp said he favored an 80 percent credit up to 2 percent, with no credit above 2 per-
cent. Kessler said he was not comfortable with Sharp’s recommendation. “While this structure has some advantages, I have found it difficult to conceptually communicate to voters, and it’s also less equitable across the board in terms of overall local income tax burden for Bexley residents who work in various municipalities outside of Bexley,” Kessler said. City auditor Gary Qualmann also endorsed Kessler’s plan, as opposed to his previous recommendation of 2.5 percent, with an 80 percent credit capped at 2 percent. Kessler, council president Jeff Mc-
Clelland, and council members Jed Morison and Mark Masser all expressed support for the issue, as did Mayor John Brennan. Kessler said city revenues are no longer enough to keep up with expenses and that a cut in the state’s Local Government Fund and the proposed elimination of Ohio’s estate tax leave the city with no other choice than to ask residents for additional financial support. “The city budget crisis has been caused by a perfect storm of a loss of state funding, stagnant income over the past several years, and a budget which has a high ratio of fixed expenses such as the city’s fire contract, debt service, and capital
items,” Kessler said. “Coming in to these economic conditions, Bexley already was operating on one of the lowest general fund budgets, per capita, of any central Ohio suburb, due to our high ratio of housing and our small ratio of payroll-tax-generating office properties, so our budget is particularly sensitive to the state cuts and the volatile economic climate.” City council will also make somewhere between $400,000 and $1 million in cuts to the budget while attempting to preserve as many services as possible. Kessler stressed that cuts will also be part of the solution to the budget crisis. “This tax alone will not solve Bexley’s
budget issues,” he said. “…We will need to make further cuts to the budget in order to balance it moving forward, and I continue to believe that, due to the uncertainty regarding the future of the estate tax, those cuts need to err on the side of being aggressive while still maintaining a high level of standard on core city services. “I believe that city council and the administration need to work as a united front to set clear standards for budget cuts that must, by necessity, entail employee concessions. The discussion of further budget cuts will be a focal point of discussion See INCOME, page A2
Council asks legislators to reconsider elimination of estate tax By JEFF DONAHUE ThisWeek Community Newspapers
By Lorrie Cecil/ThisWeek
Matt and Mindy Cooper will be moving their kosher bakery, Matt’s Bakery, from its current location at 3311 E. Broad St. to the Kroger store at 3675 E. Broad St. The bakery is slated to be open at Kroger before Hanukkah.
Kosher bakery relocating to East Broad Street Kroger By JAYME DETWEILER ThisWeek Community Newspapers The only kosher bakery in Columbus is moving farther east to take advantage of the store’s foot traffic. Matt’s Bakery owner, Matt Cooper, said the bakery will offer more selections than the previous location at 3111 E. Broad St. This is not the first time Cooper has moved his bakery. Matt’s Bakery first opened in Wooster, Mass., and moved to Columbus in 2005. Cooper’s wife, Mindy, is originally from Columbus. Cooper said he also knew there was a bigger Jewish population in Columbus. He said the reason for the move from 3111 E. Broad St. to 3675 E. Broad St. was to serve a greater client population.
“It is an opportunity to expand our client base,” said Cooper. “There is a lot more foot traffic in Kroger.” With the extra foot traffic, Cooper thinks the bakery will be able to expand its cake decorating orders and bagel offerings. “We are hoping to be able to do more of the same, but some new things also,” he said. The new facility will be located in the back left corner of Kroger. Cooper and his wife will continue to own and manage the bakery and it will be staffed by current employees. Cooper said he hopes the move leads to the need for a larger staff. The East Broad Street Kroger remodeled 1,500 square feet to accommodate Matt’s Bakery.
“Moving the facility to Kroger allows Matt and his staff to continue doing what they do best — create incredible baked goods,” said Mel Bomprezzi, Kroger vice president of merchandising. The completion date for this transition is not finalized, but Cooper hopes the process will be completed before Hanukah. After the move, Matt’s Bakery will provide full service and self-serve options during bakery hours, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Thursday and 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., Friday. When the bakery is closed on Saturdays, self-service baked goods will be available. Kroger will continue to provide Kosher products in its Kosher market, which opened in 2008. www.ThisWeekNews.com
City council will wait to fill police vacancy By JEFF DONAHUE ThisWeek Community Newspapers
Bexley City Council members have agreed to wait until after the November election to fill a police department vacancy created when a patrolman resigned to accept a position in Westerville. Police Chief Larry Rinehart told members of city council’s safety committee that Justin Hibbett, who has been with the department since 2009, recently accepted a position
in Westerville, leaving Bexley with a position to fill. “Since he was a patrol officer, that means the five days a week he worked, his five shifts, I will be one officer short,” Rinehart said. “We will try to fill that with overtime as best as we can. I would have liked to have gotten the green light from council to go ahead and fill it right now, but understandably, they want to wait and see what happens with the levy in November.”
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Facing projected multi-milliondollar operating deficits over the next five years, the city will ask voters in November to increase the municipal income tax from 2.0 percent to 2.5 percent. Safety committee chairman Mark Masser recommended Rinehart fill the vacancy as soon as possible. Masser suggested that if the levy is not approved in November and cuts need to be made, See POLICE, page A2
Despite the fact that the Ohio General Assembly appears ready to eliminate the state’s estate tax, Bexley City Council members made one final appeal during their June 14 meeting. Finance and judiciary committee chairman Ben Kessler introduced a resolution that was unanimously adopted asking state legislators to reconsider the action, which is scheduled to take effect Jan. 1, 2013. Kessler said he would personally present the resolution in opposition to the state of Ohio’s proposed elimination of the Ohio estate tax without alternative funding solutions to state Rep. Kevin Bacon on June 17. A final vote on the issue is anticipated this week. Among the reasons for the appeal cited in the resolution are: • The city of Bexley receives more than 15 percent of its annual income from the Ohio Estate Tax. • The state of Ohio is concurrently making drastic cuts to local government funds, which, in conjunction with the loss of the estate tax would reduce revenue to the city of Bexley by more than 25 percent, a percentage that vastly exceeds the shortfall being experienced by the state of Ohio. • The Bexley community is already struggling to recover from
the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. • Even prior to the cuts, Bexley operBen ates with one Kessler of the lower general fund budgets, per capita, in central Ohio. • State of Ohio policy changes that result in a loss of income of this magnitude force the city of Bexley to severely cut back on essential city services and/or raise taxes, and are therefore no different than the state of Ohio instituting a tax increase at the local level. • State lawmakers are in the process of instituting these extraordinary cuts without providing localities with any meaningful tools to deal with the shortfalls short of cutting services or instituting a tax increase. The resolution states city council’s opposition to the elimination of the Ohio estate tax while no meaningful alternative tools are being provided to assist municipalities in dealing with the income shortfalls that will result from the loss of this revenue. It also urges state lawmakers to adopt one or more of the following actions: • Maintain the Ohio estate tax See ESTATE TAX, page A2
Hall hired as Ohio Supreme Court senior staff counsel Bexley attorney Michelle Hall has been named senior staff counsel for the Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline for the Supreme Court of Ohio. Her duties include assisting the secretary of the board in administering the board’s work, offering written ethical opinions to lawyers and judges, and providing educational programming on legal ethics for judges and lawyers. Hall replaces Ruth Bope Dangel, who served the board and Supreme Court of Ohio for 21 years and retired on May 27. The Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline is composed of 28 members ap-
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pointed by the court. Four are public members, seven are active or retired judges, and 17 are lawyers from throughout the state. The board issues findings and recommendations to the court on ethical misconduct complaints lodged Michelle A. against Ohio attorneys and Hall judges, and its staff provides advice and education to promote understanding of and compliance with rules governing the proSee HALL, page A2
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