Strongsville Joins Group to Fight Loss of Estate Tax -- and $750,000 a Year
New group aims to give communities a voice in Columbus
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Strongsville will join a group of cities banding together to get more clout in dealing with the state over funding issues, including the proposed end of Ohio's estate tax.
Mayor Tom Perciak said Strongsville stands to lose $750,000 a year if the state eliminates the estate tax in 2013, as proposed.
"We really have to be careful on this one," Perciak said. "We're also losing $500,000 in local government -- by the time it's said and done, it's almost $2 million. How do we close that gap? Where does the money come from?"
City Council agreed April 18 to spend $5,000 to join the Council to Protect Ohio's Communities, a coalition organized by Shaker Heights
"It's very important we join," Council President Mike Daymut said. "We need a more collective voice about some of these mandates that are coming down."
An Ohio Senate committee last week passed a bill to eliminate Ohio's estate tax in 2013. Currently, inheritance taxes are imposed on estates larger than $338,333, with cities receiving 80 percent of the revenue.
But local officials said the loss would be devastating to cities already reeling from other state funding cutbacks, including local government fund revenue. Strongsville will lose about $1 million over two years because of those recent funding cuts.
Perciak said that without a voice in Columbus, cities can expect to lose more state funding.
At least 10 communities have joined the coalition so far, with many more expected to jump on board.
"They (state officials) want regionalism?" Daymut said. "We'll give them regionalism."
Kerry Ramsey
6:22 pm on Tuesday, April 19, 2011
No problem. I'm sure that Perciak and his cronies on Council will do the same thing that they did the last time when encountering a potential revenue shortfall - INCREASE taxes by 25% on approximately 60% of the wage earners in the City by reducing the RITA tax credit. A reduction of one quarter to one half percent should do the trick. Once the new revenue starts flowing into the City's coffers, they'll brag and subsequently campaign on how "fiscally responsible" they've been with the City's budget by "not raising taxes". What a joke.
Janice Krusoczky
8:50 pm on Tuesday, April 19, 2011
The deceased couldn't part with their $ nor give it to their loved ones while still alive -because the inheritance was conditional. "You only get it once I'm dead" because they really didn't want the kids to have the $. Wealthy ($338,000 estate value) dead people deserve to be taxed for being so greedy, mistrusting, and too stupid to give it to their relatives/friends before their deaths. Since they can't take it with them (they wanted to), their communities might as well get a small cut. After all, they know it will be tied when they're gone, and they obviously don't care, or they'd do something about it- like start giving it away because they actually want to, not because they HAD to. Just my opinion.
Ken McEntee
9:40 pm on Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Of the 51 states, plus DC, only 18, including Ohio, continue to tax you when you're dead. Most begin taxing estates over $1 million to $5 million. Ohio is the only state in the country that taxes estates as low as $338,000. The next lowest is New Jersey, at $675,000.
States that tax your ghost:
Connecticut
Delaware
District of Columbia
Hawaii
Illinois
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Minnesota
New Jersey
New York
North Carolina
Ohio
Oregon
Rhode Island
Tennessee
Vermont
Washington
Janice Krusoczky
4:51 pm on Wednesday, April 20, 2011
If anyone's concerned about this, just give your money away before you die. I honestly believe it's the children of the deceased who are concerned about getting every dime out of their dead parents who are so concerned and behind removing this tax. Here's some advice: go earn your own money!
Shannon Burns
8:43 am on Thursday, April 21, 2011
Janice - the issue at stake isn't greed - it's the pace at which high net worth individuals are leaving Ohio for states that do not penalize wealth. Everyone likes to say that the main force behind people retiring to Florida is weather - its not, its accountants.
Janice Krusoczky
2:28 pm on Friday, April 22, 2011
How much are all those old folks costing Florida and Medicare? Maybe their leaving Ohio isn't such a bad thing. Most leave because of the weather or knowing people already down there. Theycould just stay in Ohio and give their surplus money away to avoid the tax. They just refuse to part with their money- quite simple.