East Cleveland will ask its voters in November to raise the city’s income tax in a bid to climb out of 14 years of fiscal emergency. The inner-ring suburb of Cleveland is the first city to have its finances overseen by a court-appointed receiver under a new Ohio law.
The hike would raise the tax rate from 2% to 2.5%. Based on last year’s collections, the increase could bring in another roughly $970,000. That’s no small amount for a city that owes $2.6 million in unpaid bills, according to the latest monthly report from East Cleveland’s receiver.
Plenty of taxpayers are behind, too. The city plans to file around 500 collections lawsuits over $1 million in unpaid taxes, the receiver’s report said.
Mayor Sandra Morgan argued an income tax hike was “relatively painless” because most taxpayers work in East Cleveland while living elsewhere. The tax rate has stood at 2% since 1982.
“Our city needs the money,” she said. “We absolutely have to find ways to increase our revenues and potentially lower some costs — streamline costs, I should say. We do not want to have to cut services in the city, which are already barebones.”
She faces skepticism from such residents as Paul Hill Jr. He told Weekly Chatter the city should perform an in-depth forensic audit before asking voters to decide. Without that, a tax hike was like “pouring dirt in a hole with no bottom,” he said.
“My position is not that East Cleveland should never increase taxes,” he said. “Transparency needs to precede taxation, and residents need and — or deserve and need…complete financial information before voting on any tax increases.”
In March, receiver George E. Shoup III noted the slipshod state of East Cleveland’s financial records. Since then, a city financial consultant has been putting this year’s books in order, he wrote.
Police staffing thin: East Cleveland’s police force — which has faced years of investigations and indictments — also has a staffing problem. The issue came under the spotlight after a Facebook post by a former city staffer took off this week.
According to Morgan, there are only 16 officers on the force, and a couple of those are out. The city can staff its patrol shifts with three or four officers, she said.
“There’s no two ways about it,” Morgan said. “We are understaffed for police.”
A roster on the Ohio Attorney General’s Office website lists one part-time officer and 15 full-timers, including the acting chief. The list also includes four auxiliary officers. A spokesperson for the attorney general’s office said that information is self-reported by law enforcement agencies.
East Cleveland is getting help from the Ohio State Highway Patrol and Cuyahoga County Sheriff, Morgan said. She said the city has also asked Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority and Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority police to protect their assets in the city.
Low staffing also hurts the city’s bottom line. Police overtime cost the city $20,000 in June, according to the receiver’s report. (Fire overtime stood at $109,000 that month, about the same as the department’s regular monthly payroll, the report said)
The receiver wrote that the city needs 10 more police employees and seven more fire staff to hit a head count that’s more sustainable.
Justyn Anderson, who worked for prior Mayor Lateek Shabazz and whose Facebook post set off the scrutiny of East Cleveland’s officer staffing, didn’t expect his note would garner so much attention. It has been shared at least 1,000 times.
“I was not hoping to get it out that much,” he said. “I was hoping to reach as many residents as possible.”
City Hall searching for Instagram pro
Mayor Justin Bibb’s administration is looking for one good content creator.
City Hall posted a job opening this week for a communications staffer who will “create buzz around the mayor’s priorities” by making videos for Instagram and YouTube, livestreaming press conferences and answering residents’ questions.
It’s not exactly a new role. The mayor’s office had a social media strategist who moved over to Cleveland Public Power, a city spokesperson said. Now the job has a new title for the influencer age: social media content creator.
Bibb has pushed his message via social media videos more often lately. Such local influencers as ImfromCleveland have given him Instagram airtime.
Like seemingly every politician, from the mayor of New York City to Cleveland City Council candidates, Bibb has found value in reaching constituents directly on their phone screens — without the interference of mainstream news media gatekeepers. Even a post about becoming a Costco member (hardly a traditional local news story) racked up thousands of likes.
But while he has been seeking out new media venues, the mayor told WKYC’s Russ Mitchell in a City Club of Cleveland conversation this spring that he also makes time for face-to-face chats with residents.
“Nothing beats analog knocking on doors, talking to folks,” Bibb said.
He puts those neighborhood walks on social media, too.
