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City of Wooster: Message From The Mayor
City of Wooster: Message From The Mayor
January 2014
Winter Newsletter
Inside:
Community Reinvestment ............ 2-3 Housing Inspections to be Conducted in the Traditional Residential Neighborhoods ............. 4 Wooster Receives Boost in its ISO Rating ......................... 5 Financial Information 2014 Budget ............ 6-7 Wooster Envisioned Public Meeting ........... 7
-Bob Breneman
www.woosteroh.com
City of Wooster
Your Tax Dollars at Work
The mission of the City of Wooster is to partner with our community to deliver services, conserve resources, protect quality of life and plan for the future. This includes a variety of core values, including stewardship and trust. Following these core values, we are dedicated to communicating how your tax dollars are being utilized to provide valuable city services and capital improvement projects. The following capital improvements were able to take place in 2013. In 2014, we will continue a focus on capital improvements. Roadway Projects: $6 million ($4.7 million grant funding from ODOT)
Community Reinvestment
The City of Woosters Economic and Community Development office facilitates and promotes community quality of life and economic development in order to enhance local business development and manage community development programs. In collaboration with multiple economic development partners, the City of Wooster is proud to administer the following programs to improve quality of life and to create housing and business development opportunities:
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hiring or retaining jobs through this program, which typically offers a 50% property tax abatement on the improved real estate value over 10 years for new construction or facility expansions. Projects with exceptional impact have received 12-year and 100% abatements. Learn more at www.woosteroh.com/development.php.
abatement for new construction or expansion projects that employ or retain 10 or more jobs. 11 businesses have taken advantage of this property tax abatement program. Up to 100% property tax abatements have been awarded to a number of companies making extraordinary workforce investments.
FAQs
Are inspections random? Inspections will be made block by block until the whole district is covered. These blocks will be selected randomly in each of the 4 main sections of the district. Can inspections be scheduled? Scheduling is not necessary because they are exterior inspections. If warranted by exterior conditions an interior inspection will be scheduled and we will contact the owner. When will they begin? We began in December. We do not know how long it will take to complete the district but estimate it will take 2 to 3 years for the rst inspections. What if the inspection fails? We will take the normal enforcement actions including: notifying the owner of the violations and required actions, abating the violations and certifying the cost to the auditor for assessment and prosecution. We will work with owners as long as there is progress.
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1. 2. 3.
Fire Alarms (Dispatch) - 71.0% of 10 total points Fire Department 71.7% of 50 total points Water Supply 89.3% of 40 total points
The biggest adjustment in ISO rating from the previous audit was in the amount of points awarded in the Fire Department category, which increased from a class 5 rating of 59.4% to a class 3 rating of 71.7%. The most notable reasons for this increase include trainings, city emergency analysis and deployment and credit for personnel. Lower class ratings have the potential to provide a cost savings in insurance premiums, but it is not necessarily guaranteed. The individual insurance agency and the type of building being insured make this determination. For more information on potential savings, please contact your insurance agency.
Amount $16,968,400 $8,310,739 $1,438,290 $246,700 $584,220 $368,100 $27,628 $1,500,000 $29,444,077
Percent 57.6% 28.2% 4.9% 0.8% 2.0% 1.3% 0.1% 5.1% 100.0%
1% 5% 1%
28%
58%
SPECIAL ASSESSMENTS FINES, LICENSES & PERMITS MISCELLANEOUS INTEREST INCOME INTERFUND
Revenue Source Definitions: TAXES - includes City levied income tax of 1.50% on substantially all income earned within the City, Citys portion of taxes due on real property [7 cents of each dollar paid], and bed tax: a levy imposed by the City on hotel stays within Wooster City limits. INTERGOVERNMENTAL - encompasses revenue sharing programs from the state and federal government, including but not limited to grants and local government revenue sharing program. CHARGES FOR SERVICES - includes fees for services such as recreation programs, community center programs, and emergency medical service runs. SPECIAL ASSESSMENTS - taxes levied on real estate that require that property owners pay for improvements such as streets, curbs and similar items that benefit their real estate. FINES, LICENSES & PERMITS - includes building permit fees, zoning permit fees and plan review fees. MISCELLANEOUS - encompasses rents, cable TV franchise fees, proceeds from sales of assets, and donations. INTEREST INCOME - revenue earned by investing available city funds throughout the year. INTERFUND - includes repayments by funds to other funds for expenses incurred on its behalf.
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Where the Money Goes SAFETY SERVICES HEALTH & SOCIAL SERVICES LEISURE SERVICES ENVIRONMENT & DEVELOPMENT TRANSPORTATION SERVICES ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES DEBT SERVICES CAPITAL OUTLAY Total Expenditures
Amount $11,938,808 $135,000 $1,744,925 $1,206,391 $2,418,807 $3,568,842 $835,491 $6,423,092 $28,271,356
Percent 42.2% 0.5% 6.2% 4.3% 8.6% 12.6% 3.0% 22.7% 100.0%
Expenditure by Type Definitions: SAFETY SERVICES - includes Police, Fire, EMS, Traffic Signals, and Street Lighting. HEALTH & SOCIAL SERVICES - includes expenses related to the Citys share of services performed by the County Board of Health. LEISURE SERVICES - encompasses the services, programs and facilities provided by the Parks & Recreation Division. ENVIRONMENT & DEVELOPMENT - encompasses the services of Building Standards, Zoning, Planning, Code Compliance, and Economic Development. TRANSPORTATION SERVICES - includes all costs associated with the maintenance and repair of City roads and related infrastructure. ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES - includes functions serving the City as a whole, including: Mayors Office, City Attorney, Director of Administration, Finance, Human Resources, Information Technology, and City Council. DEBT SERVICES - encompasses principal and interest payments on general government municipal debt. Does not include debt serviced by City business type funds, such as Water and Sewer. CAPITAL OUTLAY - encompasses expenditures on the Citys Capital Improvement Program projects, such as road improvements/resurfacing and capital equipment. One-half of the recently passed income tax increase will be used to pay for the capital improvements. This does not include capital expenditures for assets of the business type funds such as water and sewer.
City of Wooster
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