New Philadelphia city officials are continuing talks over whether to outsource municipal income tax operations to the Regional Income Tax Agency, or RITA.
The proposal comes as the city looks for ways to address a tight financial situation. Council’s finance committee heard a presentation from RITA last week and is set to meet again Wednesday, August 26th at 4 p.m. in council chambers to review and discuss RITA operations.
During last night’s council meeting, Auditor Heather Denham and Income Tax Administrator Carly Loos urged council members to do more research before moving forward.
Denham said some cities that joined RITA did so because they lacked local staff or tax office resources, while New Philadelphia already has those services in place.
“Would highly recommend that you speak to local tax preparers who work with RITA because it can be very challenging to navigate through the RITA system. Some tax preparers even charge their clients extra to do RITA returns. I’d also want you to encourage you, if you’re doing individual research, to reach out to some of the city’s leaving RITA to get what their feedback is.”
Loos emphasized the value of having a local tax office where residents can receive in-person assistance and where staff maintain detailed knowledge of individual accounts.
“I do have two letters, explaining the difficulties that they had in dealing with RITA. Their customer service is almost non-existing; it is very difficult to try to reach someone. Several accounting firms and local municipalities expressed that they have no clue why the city would consider moving away from a local tax office. Having a tax office where you can reach out and receive instant answers is a benefit for the community.”
Both officials asked council to consider customer service, local accountability, transition issues, and feedback from residents and tax professionals before making a decision.
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