OMA Tax Committee Reviews Ohio’s Financial Condition, Local Income Tax Concerns

This week, the OMA Tax Committee met virtually for its third and final meeting of the year. Members were briefed on Ohio’s financial condition by Kimberly Murnieks, director of the Ohio Office of Budget and Management. She noted that consumer spending by higher and middle-income households has not fully recovered, but said Ohio is approaching 90% in Moody’s/CNN Business’s “Back to Normal” index.

A key topic of discussion was the effort to repeal Ohio’s emergency local income tax withholding provision — included in COVID-19 legislation approved last spring. The provision allows employers to continue their pre-pandemic withholdings even if employees are currently working from home in another community. There is much debate about whether employees can file for refunds. Allowing refunds would cost Ohio’s largest six cities up to $306 million annually, according to one estimate. This issue will continue to be debated through the remainder of the year and into next year’s state budget discussions.

OMA members also heard from Phil Hurak and Steve Estelle of OMA Connections Partner Clark Schaefer Hackett on the top 10 considerations for Ohio manufacturers during COVID-19.

The OMA will soon publish the 2021 meeting dates for all policy committees. Stay tuned. 11/18/2020