MANSFIELD — On April 17, Mansfield City Council introduced legislation that proposed raising the motor vehicle registration fee an extra $5.
The funds generated as a result of this legislation would be directed towards downtown improvement, and help the city leverage for even more funding via grant dollars. Council will vote on the legislation at their May 15 meeting.
But what exactly does that mean? Where exactly would the money go to? And who is affected by the $5 increase?
What is the tax?
A $5 increase would be applied to the motor vehicle registration fee for anyone whose vehicle is registered within the city of Mansfield. That means even if you renew your license at a BMV outside of Mansfield, if your vehicle is registered to a Mansfield address, you will still pay an additional $5.
According to the Mansfield BMV, currently the fee to register a passenger vehicle in the city of Mansfield is $49.50. If the legislation passes, that means the fee would be $54.50 for the next 12 years.
Currently the city already has a $5 city-only tax on license fees and receives half of a county-wide $5 license fee, for a total of $7.50 that goes directly into the street fund. These current taxes generate approximately $310,000 for street improvements.
Mayor Tim Theaker explained a change would be made in three different pieces of legislation. The first piece would implement the additional $5 increase in registration fees; however, Ohio Revised Code states that fees of that kind must be used for the improvement of streets. So the money raised from the $5 increase would go into the city of Mansfield’s street fund.
The proposed $5 fee would relieve the city’s General Fund from liability in supporting the street fund.
“Today, we subsidize the streets from the General Fund because what taxes are currently out there for the street doesn’t cover it, so we have to fund a piece of that through the General Fund,” Theaker said.
The function of the second piece of legislation states that whatever dollar amount used to subsidize the city’s General Fund to the street fund would instead be allocated to a separate pot and used for the purpose of improving the city’s downtown.
The third piece of legislation in the package creates an advisory committee to help decide how to use the money in the downtown improvement fund. The committee would guide strategic thinking and provide recommendations for how money generated by the license tax could be utilized for the revitalization of downtown Mansfield.
The advisory board would consist of the mayor and six members appointed by the mayor and confirmed by council. Prospective members include Jodie Perry, president of the Richland Area Chamber of Commerce; Jennifer Kime, CEO of Downtown Mansfield, Inc.; Chris Hiner, president of Richland Bank; Matthew Stanfield, owner and principal architect at FiELD9: architecture; Scott Cardwell, co-owner of the Phoenix Brewing Company; and Ben Davis, representing the general public.
Three of the members appointed by the mayor (Perry, Hiner and Cardwell) would serve initial terms of two years each, and the three remaining members (Kime, Stanfield and Davis) would serve initial terms of four years. Terms would commence July 1, 2018.
According to the Ohio BMV, in 2017 there were 46,489 total vehicle registrations in Mansfield, generating $218,125. With the $5 increase, the city hopes to bring in approximately $220,000 per year to go towards downtown development.
How can Mansfield leverage this money to get even more funding?
As noted by assistant law director Chris Brown at council’s April 17 meeting, the license tax legislation needs council’s approval by July 1 of this year to take effect Jan. 1, 2019.
According to city engineer Bob Bianchi, the timeline is important for Mansfield to take maximum advantage of applying for grant money to further fund downtown improvements.
There are grant dollars available, and different pots of money – state and federal grants, and private and local grants – that can be used for certain improvements to the downtown.
“But each one of those grants say, we’ll give you 75 percent, but you have to come to the table with 25 percent,” Bianchi said. “We need to be prepared locally to have local funds available when grant dollars are available. Otherwise, we cannot accept the grant money.”
The reason for this is, as Mayor Theaker puts it, the grants want the cities to “have skin in the game.” Nobody wants to be the sole funder for downtown improvement if the local entity is not also invested.
“Now it’s important to note that these grants are competitive,” Bianchi said. “It’s not to say that since we have the local match, we are guaranteed the grant, but we’re going to put our best foot forward.
“But without the local match, we don’t even have the ability to apply.”
So what’s the plan for that $220,000 in downtown development? And what about all the other stuff in the city that needs fixed?
According to Bianchi, typically the downtown is considered to be the square area from Sixth Street to Adams Street and from to First Street to Bowman Street. Part of the legislation implementing the $5 fee specifies the funds raised from the new tax must be spent within those boundaries.
“The money has to be spent towards improving the downtown, and the money has to be spent in a certain way to improve the livability, the way people move throughout the downtown,” Bianchi said.
This could mean wayfinding, streetscaping, and aesthetic improvements. Large projects would be presented to Mansfield City Council for approval.
Why make this a priority when there are things like potholes plaguing the streets?
First of all, Mayor Theaker is quick to defend the city’s street conditions. More importantly, what’s the first thing most people want improved in Mansfield?
“They want a job,” Theaker said. “So how do you do that? Well, you bring businesses.”
And what brings businesses? A vibrant downtown, where people can eat, shop and find entertainment. A place where people have a reason to stay downtown.
“Downtown Mansfield used to be that way,” Theaker said. “Now I think we need to bring people back to the community and back to the downtown area.
“It should, and can be, a very thriving area,” he continued. “So if you can make improvements that keeps it safe, brings more businesses and people downtown, that’s what you need to do.”
