City Officials in Ohio Inform Residents They Were Overtaxed for 15 Years

In a letter to Rittman, Ohio, locals, city officials revealed that they overtaxed community income tax for the previous 15 years, and refunds will not be offered for all the years of human error since doing so would "bankrupt" the city.

In specific, Rittman has actually been collecting municipal income taxes for the previous 15 years at a rate of 1.5 percent when the correct, allowed rate was 1 percent.

" Our research has actually exposed that the cause of the inaccurate earnings tax rate was simple human error that happened years back," the letter said.

According to the city, it was shocking to find the error and that it had actually gone on for so long. The letter specifies that the city reported the mistake to the Ohio Auditor of State and to the firm that carries out the yearly city audit.

The city stated it called the Regional Income Tax Agency, or RITA, and city municipal taxpayers can anticipate the right rate of one percent for the tax year 2022, according to their claims.

According to RITA, the additional 0.5 percent in tax collected by the city of Rittman in 2022 alone corresponded to over $850,000.

Rittman city officials stated there is an one-year statute of constraints for recovering the payment of an illegal income tax under Ohio law. They said that to get this sort of refund, taxpayers must fulfill "substantial procedural requirements."

According to authorities, even in the absence of legislation, reimbursing 15 years' worth of taxes "would bankrupt the City."

Citizens in Rittman licensed an additional 0.5 percent tax in 1977, which city authorities planned to expire at the end of 2007, to approve a 1.5 percent tax rate for 30 years. The city upgraded it's codified rules after citizens approved modifications to the city's tax code in 1996.

According to Rittman's authorities, cash from the city's taxes has actually approached paying for services, including cops, fire/EMS, public health, parks, and recreation. Authorities cautioned that they may have to ensure cuts due to the 0.5 percent decline in income tax collection. City authorities are promoting the reinstatement of the rate to 1.5 percent for "community-wide" conversation.

" While you may feel confident that the safety of individuals who live, work and go to here will remain our top priority, you must know that we might have to think about cutbacks in the services identified. This is a basic fiscal truth," the letter said.

Residents' city income tax return for this year will instantly determine the Rittman income tax at 1 percent, not 1.5 percent. Citizens can use for a refund by sending a Short Form 10A that RITA is developing for Rittman taxpayers if they have already paid their local income taxes for 2022 at the 1.5 percent rate or had the tax withheld by their company.

According to the letter, Rittman city officials are doing whatever possible to prevent this from happening again.

" In addition to passing brand-new legislation to fix the tax rate, we will work with our auditor, finance department and law department to recognize finest practices and enhanced internal controls to assist defend against this ever occurring again," the letter said.

Rittman resident Paul Gordon stated he thinks the city dealt with the scenario as best as possible.

" I believe the city has been doing a great job. I applaud them for 1. Discovering the mistake 2. Being truthful and open about it and 3. A minimum of providing a refund for this year. If you think this is crazy you must see where your federal tax dollars go. It would blow your mind," Gordon said.

Other locals, nevertheless, state the city must have captured this error years ago.

" I get that it was an error but 15 years is method too long for that mistake to be ignored. They ought to pay all that back to individuals who paid that. It's not their fault that the city overlooked the error," resident Gary Maynard told The Ohio Star.

" What makes me so mad is if we made that mistake we would have to pay that back," resident Angel Ball-Sollars said.

" The people responsible ought to be held responsible however the town where we live would declare bankruptcy if they refunded everyone. To me, that's not worth it. I simply want individuals who did this to be held responsible," Rebecca Hollabaugh said.

According to city officials, they have actually planned a neighborhood conference for January 30th to address citizens' concerns and questions regarding refunds.