Ironton government officials and the citizen group, "Right Choice" are gearing up to hash out a plan to shore up the city’s coffers and keep the city afloat.

Sunday, July 22, 2001

Ironton government officials and the citizen group, "Right Choice" are gearing up to hash out a plan to shore up the city’s coffers and keep the city afloat.

The group and city council will meet Monday evening in a combined effort to determine what measure will be on November’s ballot.

The reason for the concerted effort stems from a measure enacted by council in February – Ordinance 01-08, which charges $2.50 on the city water bill. The temporary fee started April 1 and will expire March 31, 2002, unless a measure is voted on by city residents. If a measure does pass in November, then the fee expires on Dec. 31 of this year.

Currently, the committee is looking at combining a city-wide municipal fee with an increase in the city’s payroll tax. The recommendation the committee makes will go to council and if the measure passes, the proposed legislation will go on the ballot.

A vote by the citizens was promised by some council members when the municipal fee was added to resident’s water bills. Councilman Jesse Roberts said at last Thursday’s meeting, "I stand on record…the citizens will have a vote. That’s what I told the citizens…and I’m going to stand by my word." Roberts added that any measure proposed, "has to be voted on by the people."

He also said he would not vote on adding any more fees unless it was voted on by city residents.

One council member has posted on his Web page that he will vote "no" on any measure that will come to a public vote.

Referring to himself as "The Watchdog," councilman Bob Vaughn posted on his website, "the Watchdog plans to vote NO (sic) on placing this tax issue on the ballot. Usually, I am a believer in giving people a choice.

"Before an incident that took place several months ago, I probably would have considered letting the people decide the outcome of this tax increase at the polls in November."

The reason stems from previous legislation Vaughn tried to get passed previously. During that time, Vaughn attempted to introduce legislation to change the city’s charter that would place a proposal on the ballot that would fetter the mayor’s salary.

Vaughn’s legislation was designed to cap the salary of future mayors, fixing the salary at $45,000. If the legislation would have passed, residents would have determined the pay rate for the mayor.

Vaughn wrote, "while debating my proposed charter change, a member of our body stated that the petition process is the best way to change the section of charter regarding our mayor’s salary. Rather than council simply voting to place this on the ballot for the people to decide, this councilman thought I needed to go door-to-door and collect hundreds of valid signatures. The councilman stated that a petition would demonstrate that the people want a change."

Vaughn also stated, "now, some members of our body wants to place a change in our municipal income-tax rate on the ballot. Rather than circulating a petition to show that the people want to pay more taxes, some members of our body want to put the increase on the ballot the easy way."

He concluded by writing, "because of how my previous legislation was handled, I can not vote to place an increase in our municipal tax on the ballot in November. If any member of our body feels that a municipal tax increase should be placed on the ballot, then let them pick up a petition and start collecting the required number of signatures."

In a telephone interview held Saturday, Vaughn said he would agree to letting the residents vote on the measure but because of previous events, he feels councilmen that support putting the item in the ballot should collect signatures. He said he remembered he was told he would have to collect signatures and "I haven’t forgot it."

At Monday’s meeting, the committee will discuss ways to combine the fee and tax.

Council will meet in a special session Monday evening after the combined meeting.

Councilman Bob Vaughn’s statements can be accessed at http://www.cloh.net/vaughn/city_news.htm

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