They Couldn’t Anticipate Unemployment?

NBC 4: There are more budget problems for the City of Columbus, officials announced Tuesday. The city auditor told the mayor that the city is short another $16 million this quarter, saying it’s a direct result of the high unemployment rate…

Auditor Hugh Dorrian said the city is short the money in addition to the $13 million needed in January. Dorrian said the reason is simple: the city isn’t collecting as much income tax, which makes up two-thirds of the city’s operating budget. “I’m sorry to say unemployment continues to rise. Our biggest source of money to operate the city is the city income tax. Not only is there no growth, it is continually going negative compared to prior years,“ Dorrian said.

The answer to the problem, Dorrian said, is to raise the income tax rate by at least half a percent. That would bring in $90 million to $100 million more annually. In a statement from his office, Mayor Michael Coleman responded, “to address this $16 million gap, the administration and city council must work closely together, similar to what we did leading up to the adoption of the 2009 budget.”

Dorrian also pointed out that more than 50 percent of income tax revenue is collected from non-residents.