PIQUA — A committee has been created to encourage passage of the street tax levy and every Piqua voter will soon be receiving an informational postcard with facts about the levy. The levy committee is made up of concerned citizens who wish to educate voters about the issue on the March 17 ballot.

Committee members include Kathy Sherman, Lorna Swisher, Tess Gray, Mary Frances Rodriguez, Dan & Margaret French, Kazy Hinds, Cindy Pearson, Michael Gutmann, Peggy Henthorn and Sharon Semanie.

When Piqua voters go to the ballot box on March 17 for the Ohio Primary election they will be asked to renew a .25 percent street levy. Piqua first passed the street levy in 1990 and have renewed the tax twice since then. The $1.3 million dollars generated by the levy is used strictly for street repairs and street reconstruction projects.

The tax itself is levied only on people who work in Piqua and 70 percent of Piqua’s workforce is made up from residents of other communities, meaning that if you live in Piqua and work in another community (Troy, Sidney etc.) you may not pay the tax. If you live in Piqua and work in another city, you would not pay any income tax to Piqua if the income tax rates are equal, however, if the city where you work has a lesser income tax you would pay the difference to Piqua (e.g. Piqua income tax rate is 2 percent and Troy is 1.75 percent you would pay 0.25 percent to Piqua). Also, since the tax is only paid on earned income, seniors living on Social Security, dividends, unemployment tax, alimony, retirement plans and fixed income also do not pay the tax. Additionally, Piqua employees under the age of 17 do not pay the tax.

Since 2011, the city has paved over 117 miles of streets and completed thirteen street reconstruction projects all over the Piqua community. The city has also used the locally generated dollars to leverage more than $14 million in federal and state grants for the Piqua community. Without the street levy renewal, street paving will be tremendously reduced throughout the city of Piqua.

Anyone with specific questions about the levy can email [email protected] or ask questions on the Piqua Citizens for Better Streets Facebook page. Specific questions can also be directed to the city of Piqua.