Income Tax Collections Rebound in Hillcrest Cities

Income tax receipts are finally on the upswing in the Hillcrest area, a definite sign of post-recession economic revival.

Still, the tax take is still falling short of its pre-recession peak.

Of the four Hillcrest communities –  Highland Heights, Mayfield Village, Mayfield Heights and Gates Mills – Highland Heights' receipts have increased the most, up 3.75 percent from 2009.

The city's peak year was 2008, when income tax revenue reached $9.9 million. It dropped to $9.3 million in 2009 but partly rebounded in 2010 to $9.6 million.

"I'm not complaining, as long as it keeps going up," said Finance Director Anthony L. Ianiro. "You'll find that a lot of cities aren't collecting as much."

Mayfield Village's 3 percent increase in tax receipts has been adjusted to discount the effect of a tax rate hike from 1.5 percent to 2 percent in May, Finance Director Ron Wynne said.

Actual collections peaked in 2006, when revenue topped $10.2 million. The take dropped to $9.5 million  in 2009, then surged to $10.8 million in 2010, a figure that includes the effect of the tax increase.

"We're definitely on the mend," Wynne said.

Revenue intake was equally strong in Mayfield Heights, where Finance Director Robert G. Tribby also reported a 3 percent increase from 2009.

"We're fortunate to have our big three employers – Hillcrest Hospital, Parker Hannifin and Rockwell International," Tribby said. "Because of them, we're starting back up instead of continuing down."

In 2008 Mayfield Heights collected $11.8 million, watched it drop 11.6 percent to $10.4 million in 2009, and rebound to $10.7 million in 2010.

That's still 9 percent shy of the peak year, Tribby said, "but we're turning a corner."

Although the rate of increase in revenue is the least in Gates Mills – 2.3 percent – it's extremely welcome after the city's precipitous drop from 2008 to 2009.  Revenue had reached $1.8 million in 2008 but plummeted to $1.3 million in  2009.

"We were shocked," Finance Administrator Jo Ann Lechman said.

For 2010, taxes brought in $1.33 million.

Lechman said the 2008 figure might have been inflated by a one-time surge in receipts from employees taking buyouts, but she can't say for sure.

"We don't ask our people for much information," Lechman said. "There are privacy issues."