By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
joanne@wktv.org
This May, City of Wyoming residents have the opportunity to raise more than $6 million for the city while lowering their property taxes through the approval of two proposals.
City residents will head to the polls on May 3 to vote on an income tax of up to 1 percent for residents and up to .5 percent for non-residents. According to the U.S. Census, about 34,400 non-residents work in the City of Wyoming, using the city’s roads and other amenities. With the passage of the income tax, a non-resident earning $60,000 would pay about $232 income tax to the City of Wyoming. City officials estimate that if all non-residents pay the income tax that would be an additional $6 million in revenue for the city.
A second proposal would reduce the city property millage more than half for city residents and business owners. For an individual who earns $60,000 living at a home with a taxable value of $100,000, the combined income tax and reduction of property tax would result in about a $226 in savings. Those savings could be more depending on the number of people living in the home.
Retirees may see substantial savings especially if their income is from social security and pensions which are not subject to income taxes. So a retiree in this situation would receive the property tax reduction which on a house with a taxable value of $100,000 would be a savings of about $690.
According to city officials, the main purpose of the proposals, which are tied together meaning both must past, is to shift the equity so that that non-residents using the city’s roads and services are contributing to the costs.
With the annual $6 million generated from the income tax revenue received from non-residents, the city plans to put $3.3 million toward its fire department to hire 27 additional firefighters; $2.1 million toward its police department for 13 additional police officers and 1 crime analyst; and $600,000 annually toward upgrade of the city’s parks, many of which are 25 years or older.
