2023-60 AN ORDINANCE TO FIND THE PETITION FOR SUBMISSION OF PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO CHARTER VALID AND TO PUT FORTH TO THE ELECTORS THE QUESTION WHETHER THE PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE X OF THE CHARTER OF THE CITY OF VERMILION, OHIO TO ADD SECTION X-6 SHALL BE ADOPTED AND THE CITY CHARTER BE AMENDED AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY.
WHEREAS, the City of Vermilion is a chartered municipal corporation established pursuant to Article XVIII of the Ohio Constitution; and
WHEREAS, Article XVIII Section 9 of the Ohio Constitution provides for the process and procedures by which a municipal charter may be amended and states that amendments to any charter framed and adopted pursuant to the Ohio Constitution may be submitted to the electors of a municipality by a two-thirds vote of the legislative authority thereof, and, upon petitions signed by ten per centum of the electors of the municipality setting forth any such proposed amendment, shall be submitted by such legislative authority; and
WHEREAS, Article XVIII Section 9 of the Ohio Constitution also provides that the submission of proposed amendments to the electors shall be governed by the requirements of Section 8 as to the submission of the question of choosing a charter commission; and
WHEREAS, Article XVIII Section 8 of the Ohio Constitution provides that the ordinance providing for the submission of such question shall require that it be submitted to the electors at the next regular municipal election if one shall occur not less than sixty nor more than one hundred and twenty days after its passage; otherwise it shall provide for the submission of the question at a special election to be called and held within the time aforesaid; and
WHEREAS, on August 9, 2023, the City of Vermilion received a petition for submission of proposed amendment to the City’s Charter; and
WHEREAS, said petition proposes to amend Article X of the Charter of the City of Vermilion, Ohio to add Section X-6; and
WHEREAS, the petition was reviewed by the Lorain County Board of Elections, which found that the petition contained 383 valid signatures; and
WHEREAS, the Lorain County Board of Elections also certified that ten percent of the electors at the last preceding municipal election in Erie and Lorain Counties was 268 electors; and
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED by the Council of the City of Vermilion, Counties of Erie and Lorain, State of Ohio that:
SECTION 1: The Council finds and determines that the petition for submission of proposed amendment to charter is a valid petition and pursuant to the Ohio Constitution, the question whether to amend the Charter of the City of Vermilion shall be submitted to the electors at the next regular municipal election which is to be held November 7, 2023.
SECTION 2: The question to be submitted to the electors shall be whether the proposed amendment to Article X of the Charter of the City of Vermilion, Ohio to add Section X-6 shall be adopted and the City Charter be amended. Said proposed change as contained in the petition reads as follows:
“Section 6. Notwithstanding any other provision enacted by Ordinance or under general law of the State of Ohio, no municipal income tax as established pursuant to
Chapter 718 of the Ohio Revised Code shall be imposed upon any individual taxpayer or entity residing, employed, or doing business within the City of Vermilion except upon the affirmative vote of the electors of the municipality at a General Election, except as provided below.
The existing municipal income tax imposed by section 882.04 of the Codified Ordinances of the City of Vermilion, Ohio at a rate not to exceed one and one half percent (1.5%) shall not be affected by the foregoing, but any increase or alteration shall be submitted to the electors of the municipality for adoption.
Further, every individual taxpayer domiciled in the City upon whom any municipal income tax has been or is hereafter imposed shall receive credit for 100% of the municipal income taxes imposed on them by any other municipality in the State of Ohio that exceed one half of one percent (0.5%) their income subject to tax in the City upon satisfactory evidence that the tax has been paid to another municipality.
If the amount of tax withheld or paid to the other municipality is less than the amount of tax required to be withheld or paid to the other municipality, then for purposes of this section, "the income, qualifying wages, commissions, net profits or other compensation" subject to tax in the other municipality shall be limited to the amount computed by dividing the tax withheld or paid to the other municipality by the tax rate for that municipality.
The City shall grant a credit against its tax on income to a resident of the City who works in a joint economic development zone created under Section 715.691 or a joint economic development district created under Section 715.70, 715.71, or 715.72 of the Ohio Revised Code to the same extent that it grants a credit against its tax on income to its residents who are employed in another municipal corporation.
Any decrease in the credit against municipal income tax of the City of Vermilion shall be enacted only by separate affirmative vote on such question on a proposal by Initiative Petition or by two-thirds vote of the City Council for submission to the electors of the City of Vermilion, Ohio at a General Election for approval by a majority vote.”
SECTION 3: This Council finds and determines that all formal actions of this Council concerning and relating to the passage of this Ordinance were taken in an open meeting of this Council and that all deliberations of this Council and of any committees that resulted in those formal actions were in meetings open to the public and in compliance with all legal requirements, including Section 121.22 of the Ohio Revised Code.
SECTION 4: This Ordinance is hereby declared to be an emergency measure necessary for the immediate preservation of the public health, safety and general welfare of the City and its residents and for the further reason that it is necessary to enact this measure immediately to comport with the requirements of Article XVIII, Sections 8 and 9 of the Ohio Constitution. Wherefore, this Ordinance shall be in full force and effect immediately upon its adoption and approval by the mayor.