WARREN - The city collected $326,513 more in income taxes than was expected in 2008, according to a press release from Tax Administrator Tom Gaffney.
But that money is still less than what the city received in 2007, and also was considered prior to cuts the city made to balance its budget, officials said.
The city had budgeted $18.4 million in tax revenue but brought in $18.7 million, which does not include tax refunds. The current figure is a decrease of just about $6,500 from 2007.
Although the figure is greater than expected, city administration said Monday they were aware that the department was ahead on collections. Mayor Michael O'Brien and Auditor David Griffing said those collections were factored into budget discussions which led to cuts throughout 2008 and 40 layoffs for 2009.
"It didn't all come in on the last day," Griffing said.
Gaffney said the tax department kept Griffing's finance department briefed throughout the year on collections.
O'Brien, who was in Columbus seeking state assistance for the city Monday, pointed out that even with the greater-than-expected revenue, the income tax was bringing in less money than it did in 2002. He added that revenue from the inheritance tax was down by about $250,000, and the local government assistance fund and interest rates were both down.
"The income tax is just one portion and even that portion is less than it was the year before," he said.
The 2009 budget projects about $18.38 million in collections, not including tax refunds.
City Treasurer John Homlitas thanked his "hard-working, diligent staff" for the collections as well as initiatives such as the non-filers program, which contacted people who did not file. The tax department had three investigators working to collect unpaid taxes in 2008.
Homlitas commented that the tax department would be ''decimated'' by the layoffs, which go into effect this year. The income tax department had two workers laid off at the beginning of this year, with one more to follow in May. The tax department had seven employees in 2008.
Gaffney said, other than job loss, the tax department did not notice any alarming trends in 2008.
''Withholdings are our big concern ... We've watched those numbers on a daily basis to see what they're doing,'' he said.
Gaffney attributed the increased figure to more intense collection and investigations in the tax department. One of the department's highlights in 2008 was bringing a $60,000 account to litigation, he said. Gaffney plans to keep these investigations going even with the reduction in staff.
"We're playing it by ear right now that we lost almost half of the staff. I still want to concentrate on collections and investigation work. That's where the money is," he said.