In this day and age when a government entity can use the statement \u2013 \u201cFinances were much better than anticipated,\u201d that is positive news and that\u2019s the way Mayor William \u201cJunior\u201d Williams, Jr. is describing the financial status of the village of New Boston.<\/p>\n
In his report to Village Council, Williams said income tax revenue was the highest amount received since before 2010. The income tax receipts out-gained the prior year by $243,567, an increase of 15 percent. Property tax, gasoline tax and license tax all held steady with a slight increase of $4,507.<\/p>\n
Williams said court costs and fines increased 37 percent to $31,728. The lone reduction in revenues was in the Local Government Distribution Fund which saw another decrease of $9,486. Williams explained the decrease.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince 2013, the governor\u2019s decision to cut funding to local governments has cost the village nearly $400,000,\u201d Williams said.<\/p>\n
Safety tax fund receipts, which are used to pay police and fire wages, increased by $36,881 or 11 percent. General fund receipts were $161,480 over expenditures leaving a long-time high ending balance of $247,179 which is $101,881 higher than the previous year.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the first time, I appointed a business and economic development committee for the purpose of attracting new business to New Boston,\u201d Williams said. \u201cThis past year we successfully have seen the addition of Pat Catan\u2019s Fabric and Craft Specialty Store, Columbia Gas\u2019s new modern maintenance building, Dr. Depugh and Son\u2019s state of the art New Boston Vision Center, Cozy Cat clothing store and Stepping Stones Counseling Center. We are already looking forward to the South Central Ohio Educational Service Center\u2019s new health care clinic for their employees to be located in the former Daymar College building and the improved Hollywood Hair Salon locating to the former American Restaurant location.\u201d<\/p>\n
Williams touted the fact that New Boston became the first local government in Scioto County to partner with Ohio State Treasurer Josh Mandel\u2019s Ohio Checkbook Online program by posting village expenditures on the New Boston Online Checkbook. Organized by Clerk\/Treasurer Lana Loper, Williams said taxpayers and others can now go online and readily see how their tax dollars are being expended.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis transparency has helped Ohio to be ranked number one in the nation for public confidence and transparency on money issues,\u201d Williams said.<\/p>\n
Williams talked about another first. The New Boston Building Department, administered by Jessica Grant and Lori Jordan was created and officially recognized by the State of Ohio Building Standards to help facilitate and expedite the process of opening, renovating or expanding a business in the village.<\/p>\n
The Daily Times <\/em>first reported in 2016 that New Boston had come up with a program in which all plan reviews, approvals and inspections until the completion of the project and a certificate of occupancy can be issued will all be done within the confines of the village, which Williams says saves time and money by eliminating the many trips back and forth to Columbus to get certified.<\/p>\n \u201cThe department just opened in the fourth quarter of 2016 and is already gaining popularity throughout our business community,\u201d Williams said. \u201cI certainly am excited about this new department and anticipate much future success.\u201d<\/p>\n Williams went on to talk positively about the village\u2019s flood defense system making strides in providing flood protection to New Boston neighborhoods and touched on the fact that the village\u2019s flood wall has finally been officially certified by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Among other points of information, Williams said the village\u2019s police and fire departments both received additional training and village council approved a full staff of fire department personnel.<\/p>\n Williams also referenced his predecessor when he mentioned the Village Square Park was dedicated and renamed the \u201cJames Warren Village Square Memorial Park\u201d in honor and remembrance of former mayor Jim Warren.<\/p>\n \u201cIn closing, 2016 was a very successful year in nearly every way. I wish to thank each and everyone of you for your support and help,\u201d Williams said. \u201cI look forward to working with our elected officials, employees and overall community to continue to search and find ways to improve our neighborhoods for a better place to live, work and play.\u201d<\/p>\n Reach Frank Lewis at 740-353-3101, ext. 1928, or on Twitter @franklewis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In this day and age when a government entity can use the statement \u2013 \u201cFinances were much better than anticipated,\u201d that is positive news and that\u2019s the way Mayor William \u201cJunior\u201d Williams, Jr. is describing the financial status of the village of New Boston. In his report to Village Council, Williams said income tax revenue […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[7,6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newbostonvillage.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2807"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newbostonvillage.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newbostonvillage.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newbostonvillage.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newbostonvillage.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2807"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.newbostonvillage.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2807\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3623,"href":"https:\/\/www.newbostonvillage.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2807\/revisions\/3623"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newbostonvillage.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newbostonvillage.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newbostonvillage.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}