Bradford receives $36K from delinquent taxpayers

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BRADFORD — The village of Bradford has received $36,000 in additional tax revenue thanks to its efforts of seeking unpaid incomes taxes for 2017 and 2016, according to Village Administrator Rick Looker during the Bradford Council meeting on Thursday evening.

Looker advised the council the village’s enforcement of the tax code and its goal of seeking unpaid income taxes to the village through the court system has brought approximately $36,000 in additional funds for the village this year.

“That’s huge,” Looker said.

Looker added that he finished his last filings in municipal court this week for unpaid taxes for 2017. The village plans to continue its enforcement of the tax code next year.

Looker first advised the council that the village was beginning to go after delinquent taxpayers in October 2017. By January 2018, Looker advised the council that it had received $20,000 in previously unpaid taxes for 2016.

Also during its meeting, the council held the second reading of its proposed shed ordinance, deciding to bump the ordinance back to its committee to discuss some of the aspects of the proposed ordinance.

The first reading was held in November, defining a shed “as a building used for storage of personal property. Certain Motor Vehicles are prohibited, including automobiles, trucks, campers, recreation vehicles, and the like.”

On Thursday evening, council member Lance Woodell raised some concerns about the shed ordinance’s requirements for a stone or concrete base. The ordinance notes that a shed should be constructed on 3 inches of compacted stone or concrete and should include a “barrier guard to prevent small animals from accessing the area beneath the building.”

Woodell also expressed concerns with Looker about the requirement of a survey to construct a shed.

Woodell said that he thought the ordinance was possibly “going a little too far” and might prompt people to leave items in their yards rather than get a storage shed. Council member Bob Daugherty shared a similar thought that they were possibly overreaching.

Looker advised the council to bump the ordinance back to the ordinance committee to discuss these concerns. The council gave its consensus to do that.

The council also gave its consensus for a 3 percent wage increase for village employees and also increasing the weekend call-in pay from $40 a day to $75 a day.

“That’s money well-spent,” Woodell said.

Brice Schmitmeyer of Access Engineering also attended Thursday’s meeting and advised the council that bids for the Harrison Avenue reconstruction project will be taken on Jan. 11. Bradford previously was supposed to receive bids for the project this month, but the bid date needed to be pushed back until January to allow the Ohio Department of Transportation to open the bids, as the project is utilizing Community Development Block Grant funding.

“There’s been a lot of interest in the project,” Schmitmeyer said of potential contractors.

The council also approved paying approximately $2,041 to DP&L for four years of pole attachment fees that DP&L failed to bill the village for during that time span. Treasurer Brenda Selanders said that she went back and checked to make sure that the village had not already paid those fees.

Later during its meeting, the council approved an ordinance to make additional appropriations for the current year, which included removing Harrison Avenue grant money from the village’s budget for 2018, as it is not yet available. Selanders said that the village will add the grant funding to the budget again in approximately a month when it becomes available.

The council approved making appropriations for next year, allowing it to do business in 2019.

The council also approved membership fees for next year, including approximately $525 for the Ohio Municipal League and approximately $362 for the Ohio Rural Water Association. It also approved approximately $485 for the Miami County Public Defender’s contract.

The council waived the three-reading on any legislation that required it.

Council members Jeff Wirrig and Deb Warner were absent.

By Sam Wildow

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Reach Sam Wildow at [email protected].

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