Findlay may charge more for tax collections

FINDLAY — The cost of Findlay's income tax collection services for area municipalities may go up for tax year 2025. Tax Administrator Mary Price said the city's tax board has voted to introduce legislation to council that would add a 1% administrative fee. In tax year 2023, Findlay provided income tax collection services to Arlington, Mount Cory, Vanlue, Carey, Mount Blanchard and Jenera. Altogether, the villages paid about $82,000 for the service. In all, Findlay collects taxes on about 34,000 accounts. The current fee structure is prorated based on expenses and the number of accounts served, with the city providing the service at cost. The 1% administrative fee would be applied to all income tax collections received by the municipality in the tax year. City tax collection services are on annual contracts and Findlay has until June to give notice about a change in rates. The current fee structure is about seven to eight years old. The village of McComb was added to Findlay's collections this year. McComb's exact service fee won't be known until the collections are completed for the tax year. McComb paid $7,000 this year to add its village income tax accounts to Findlay's collection system. Findlay began administering taxes for the village in March. Following is a list of fees paid by the villages for collection services in tax year 2023: Arlington, $18,486; Carey, $47,192; Jenera, $1,384; Mount Blanchard, $6,593; Mount Cory, $3,060; and Vanlue, $5,350. With the additional 1% administrative fee applied in the 2023 tax year, for example, Arlington would have paid $21,171; Carey, $75,686; Jenera, $1,729; Mount Blanchard, $7,619; Mount Cory, $3,561; and Vanlue, $6,620. The city's total fees for all the accounts would have been $116,389, a difference of $34,389 last tax year. In March 2023, council agreed to appropriate $170,415 to purchase new income tax software for the city from Innovative Software Services, Inc., Eaton Rapids, Michigan. In all, the software, installation and conversion of data cost Findlay about $175,000. The annual support and maintenance fee is $20,400, and the annual fee to allow e-filing of the city income tax is $15,000 per year. An e-file portal for Findlay's income taxpayers went live in April. The link for the portal is posted on the income tax subpage on the city's website: www.findlayohio.gov Users can file Findlay local tax returns online, check account balances and upload tax documents through the portal. All city income tax returns can be filed through the portal. E-filing portals for villages that contract with Findlay for income tax collections are not yet available, but are expected to be added in the future.