Green City Council approves tax collection agreement with RITA

GREEN — Beginning in January, the City of Green’s tax collection and compliance will be administered by Regional Income Tax Agency (RITA), a group made up of local Ohio governments that collects local city and village income taxes for more than 400 Ohio communities.
The ordinance to contract with RITA passed by a 6-1 vote of Council July 28, with Councilman Richard Brandenburg (Ward 3) voting no.
Green Director of Finance Shelley Goodrich said RITA is a council of governments formed by Ohio municipalities to provide municipal income tax administration as a shared service. She said the city’s current 2% income tax rate will remain unchanged following the move to RITA, and the city would continue to establish its income tax ordinances.
Goodrich went on to explain the city’s inability to fill an open income tax administrator position, as well as an estimated annual savings of approximately $450,000 by moving to RITA, led to the Finance Department and Mayor Rocco Yeargin’s recommendation that the city contract with the tax collection agency.
She noted the city’s annual income tax administration budget is $740,000, with approximately $440,000 in salaries including the open income tax administrator position.
Goodrich added that following Council’s approval of the RITA contract, the administration plans to transition the four employees in the income tax office to other open positions in the city.
Also at the meeting, Council held a public hearing on a proposed amendment to the Planning and Development Code requiring drive-thrus have additional lanes for public safety and emergency service access.
Stow residents Kelly and Nick Keleman, whose daughter, Megan, was shot and killed in a restaurant drive-thru in 2024, expressed their support of the Green legislation. They also updated Council on efforts to pass Ohio Senate Bill 264, which would make separate bypass lanes adjacent to specified drive-thru lanes mandatory throughout the state.
Council took no action on the proposed zoning amendment, and the legislation is scheduled to have its next reading at the Aug. 11 Council meeting.
Council also held public hearings on seven proposed City Charter changes to be presented to voters on the Nov. 3 General Election ballot, with no Council action taken.
During other legislative business, Council approved a three-year municipal economic development grant agreement with the Hoover Kacyon law firm, which will result in an approximately $4,000 annual rebate to the firm, according to Planning and Development Director Wayne Wiethe.
Wiethe said the rebate was used as incentive to the company to locate in Green and as an effective way for the city to “backfill some office space.”
A resolution to modify budget appropriations within certain funds was also approved 6-1, with Councilman Gerard Neugebauer (at large) voting no.
Neugebauer’s dissenting vote had to do with the appropriation of funds to contract with construction inspector QCI Group for oversight on directional drilling projects related to fiber optic installation in the city.
“I do appreciate the administration seeking to improve the safety of contractors — all contractors,” Neugebauer said. “My objection with this is it appears to single out a particular type of construction, albeit [a type of construction] that has had issues.”
Neugebauer said he also feels the QCI contract increases the cost of doing business in the city, perhaps leading to more businesses choosing not to invest in Green.
“I think investment in the city has been helpful to residents to the tune of millions of dollars in the fiber project alone,” he said. “I don’t think the services being recommended will be able to direct safety, and it puts us in the line of sight for liability.”
Green City Council next meets Aug. 11 at 7 p.m. at Green Central Administration Building, 1755 Town Park Blvd. The meeting also is livestreamed at cityofgreen.org/videos.