Hey Mentor: the taxes are coming, the taxes are coming!

Tax levies are looming around Lake County. The State of Ohio is only a few syllables away from confiscating more of your money by "delaying" the tax cut you were entitled to this year via a law passed a few years ago.

Budget crises are everywhere!

Enter the City of Mentor.

There is no budget crisis, per say, yet!

However, a News-Herald story by Jacom Lammer today lays the ground work for some tough decisions, here.

Here is the core of the budget issue in Mentor as discussed in the linked article from the News-Herald:

To date, the city's budgeted carryover balance is $8.2 million, but Malinowski said that could increase to $10.2 million if current figures hold.

Malinowski said the city aims to keep the carryover balance for 2010 at $7.6 million. The balance represents about two months of the General Fund's budgeted revenue, which is recommended by the Government Finance Officers Association.

Yet, to achieve that $7.6 million balance will require $3.5 million in cuts to the proposed General Fund, Interim City Manager Dan Llewellyn said.

Here are some of the proposal Mentor City Council is thinking about to fix the "problem:"

* 10 percent furlough or layoffs.

* 5 percent furlough.

* defer budgeted wage increase.

* voluntary forfeiture of additional pay items.

* 10 percent overtime reduction.

* waste subsidy elimination.

* not fill four firefighter and three police officer positions.

* reduce tax credit to 75 percent.

* increase Mentor income tax rate by 0.25 percent.

* add a 1 mill property tax levy.

Get ready for tax increases Mentor! Based on the lack of fiscal discpline throughout Lake County: Willoughby Eastlake School Levy, Library Levy, Eastlake Fire levy, and the likes; and, the State's inability to balance its checkbook: massive holes in the budget and various shenanigans to try and balance (video lottery terminals, suspended tax cuts) you can rest assured that Mentor will use this to justify tax increases!