Twin Cities resolve tax-sharing dispute
UHRICHSVILLE (WJER) (Oct. 2, 2023) – Twin City leaders have reached a settlement in their dispute over a longstanding agreement splitting the income taxes from Claymont High School.
During Thursday’s Uhrichsville council meeting, members voted 4-to-3 to accept the offer from a mediation session in May to resolve Dennison’s lawsuit against the city for withholding its share of the taxes. Councilman and Democratic mayoral nominee Jim Zucal requested the vote to end what he calls “nonsense” and a “waste of taxpayer money.”
“We’re paying attorneys from Columbus at a rate – the lead attorney at $885 an hour – in preparation, mileage to and from, and the time spent in Tuscarawas County doing this work and we haven’t even argued the terms of the contract yet.”
Mayor Mark Haney halted Dennison’s tax payments after the law firm Ice Miller reviewed the agreement and deemed it invalid. The city now owes more than $53,000 that the village has agreed to accept in installments.
“I want the taxpayers to understand this is not money that Uhrichsville is paying out of our coffers,” Zucal said. “This is money collected from income tax revenues at the high school and dispersed to Dennison, so it’s money that they are owed.”
The Claymont school district will distribute future payments under the settlement that increases the city’s share of the taxes from 65 to 67 percent and will be re-evaluated after each Decennial Census.