$ And Sense

A couple of years ago the Wilmington city council voted against a resolution that asked the state legislature to forgo action to repeal Ohio's estate/inheritance tax. The resolution had been circulated by other cash strapped cities and counties in Ohio.

In the end the legislature repealed the tax effective for deaths occurring after 2012. It's worth noting that the tax had not been applied to estates under $340,000 or on any amount that was bequeathed to a surviving spouse.

As a result of the repeal, the county and city, that received a total of over $820,000 last year from the tax, will have to either cut public services or ask for tax increases on the living population.

Odds and ends:

In spite of the uptick in job creation touted by the Mayor of Wilmington city income tax revenue reached a five year low for 2013. Receipts were $70,000 lower than for 2012.

Wilmington city school' income tax also dipped $90,000 below the 2013 receipts.

Paul Hunter

Considerations Of Right To Work Law

In my opinion: Right to work decisions should be made by the workers themselves. Employers, politicians and non involved voters should not have a voice in what is basically a matter of worker choice in compensation for their investment of labor capital. An equivalent situation would be for the voters of a state to vote on the methods of compensation and working conditions for the managers of money capital.

Contract negotiation is the time and place for both sides to work out differences and not the public ballot box. If workers choose by majority vote to organize, then that majority can make the rules covering membership, that’s the democratic method. Rules that includes the obligation to pay dues in order to receive the benefits of the negotiated contract seems to be a reasonable concept. If the majority of workers decide not to have union representation then the employer need not worry.

Paul Hunter
Union Shop explained: (extracted from various internet sources)

What is Union Shop? In the United States, a union shop is a negotiated union security clause between unions and private sector employers. Under a union shop clause the private sector employer may hire either labor union members or nonmembers but all employees must become union members within a specified period of time.

Under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), the union and employer may negotiate an agency shop agreement, which does not require workers to join a union but to pay equivalent union dues. By law, labor unions are required to negotiate for and defend the rights of all workers in the bargaining unit, whether they are members or not. This obligation is known as the duty of fair representation. In addition, a check-off agreement, in which an employee authorizes the employer to deduct union dues from his or her paycheck, is common practice.

Ohio is one of 28 states that is a union shop state. In 1947 Congress overrode a presidential veto and amended the NLRA to allow states to prohibit employers and unions from negotiating union shop clauses. Some states have adopted this anti-union measure, which is commonly referred to as “right to work.” Right to work law requires the union to represent the worker but does not require the worker to join the union or pay his or her fair share of dues. In 1958, Ohio voters overwhelmingly rejected a business led state ballot initiative to make Ohio a right to work state.

Public Schools and Politics

Local voters may prefer the political atmosphere of states with Republican leadership. However, we might have second thoughts about educating our children in many of the so called red states.

According to the rankings offered by the below link:

States With the Best (and Worst) Schools - 24/7 Wall St.http://247wallst.com/special-report/2014/01/14/states-with-the-best-and-worst-schools-2/#ixzz2rFRdXLFH 

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The ten worst states for public school systems, number one being the worst. Red indicates states with a GOP governor while blue indicates a Democrat leaderr 10. Oaklahoma; Michigan; South Dakota; South Carolina; Alaska; Alabama; West Virginia; NewMexico; Louisiana; Number 1. Mississippi.

The ten best states, with number one being the best. Number 10 Colorado; Washington; Pennsylvania; Florida; Minnesota; Vermont; New Hampshire; New Jersey; Maryland Number 1 Massachusetts.

Paul Hunter

send comments to paulhunter45177@gmail.com

Port Authority

At the January “Port” board meeting a resolution was passed authorizing an agreement wherein ATSG, the major air park tenant, and the city of Wilmington will pay for a contract with a Dayton consulting and lobbying firm to further the interests of the Air Park. The firm, CBD Advisors LLC http://www.cbdadvisors.com/ specializes in government relations and business development.

Even though the Port ended the year financially sound they are asking the cash strapped City to pony up a $12,500 per year share of the cost of the development/lobbying contract.

It seems to me that the CIC, (not to be confused with DWCIC) is the better candidate for this expense. They are sitting on millions of idle dollars and have, in the past, donated funds to the Air Park’s survival.

 From ordinance #1272 February 5,1970

“Designating the Community Improvement  Corporation of Wilmington as the agency of the city for industrial, commercial, distribution and research development.”

The city has already donated $150,000 cash to the JUMP hangar project.

 If this issue is brought up before the concerned council committee the Mayor as a board member of CIC must be self recused.

Paul Hunter

New Mortgage Rules

In my opinion, A system that should have always been standard practice. If it had been, the housing default bubble and the great recession would have been much less severe.

Paul Hunter

http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/news/5-ways-buying-a-house-just-changed/ncw2T/

New mortgage regulations mandated by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau went into effect this month. The rules are meant to hold lenders liable for bad loans and protect borrowers from loans they can’t afford.

Here are five ways the rules affect a home purchase:

1. New servicing standards: Existing homeowners will either get a monthly statement or a coupon book from their lender showing the current loan balance, payment amount and next due date. While some borrowers already receive monthly statements, all mortgage lenders are now required to provide them.

2. Underwriting criteria: Lenders will require more documentation of ability to repay from new homebuyers applying for a loan. At a minimum, creditors generally must consider eight underwriting factors:

• current or reasonably expected income or assets
• current employment status
• the monthly payment on the covered transaction
• the monthly payment on any simultaneous loan
• the monthly payment for mortgage-related obligations
• current debt obligations, alimony, and child support
• the monthly debt-to-income ratio or residual income
• credit history

3. Debt ratio: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau set a number for determining if a buyer can afford their mortgage payments. The number — the debt ratio, or what percentage of monthly income is used to pay debt — is 43 percent. Debt includes payments on student and auto loans, credit cards, alimony and child support.

A loan to a borrower with a higher than 43 percent debt ratio is considered high risk and might not get approved.

Before, consideration of debt to income was at the discretion of the lender.

Lenders can still make loans that don’t meet the 43 percent debt ratio standard, but might not be able to sell these loans, which creates more risk for the lender.

4. Struggling borrowers: Lenders now have certain obligations to meet with people having trouble paying their mortgages. For example, a foreclosure cannot be initiated before 120 days of default. During that time, lenders are to work with homeowners on loan modifications or refinances to keep them in their home.

5. Timeliness: Other rules require lenders to fix issues quickly and credit payments quickly. Mortgage servicers will now have to call or contact most borrowers by the time they are 36 days late on their mortgage.

Chart Indicates Steady Increase In City Activity

State of city comparison 2012-2013
Area	2012	2013
Building permits	222	329
construction value	$17,693,135	$25,997,104
Building Violations	227	212
EMS Runs	2793	2743
Fire Response	476	487
Dispatch calls	14,183	16892
Police incidents	12,913	10395
Sanitation res. accts	4,000	4000
Sanitation to OEPA	$66,774	$62,631
Sanitation to County	$91,619	$93,334.00
M&R salt tons	410	962
Taxi total riders	132,000	135,000
Wastewater gallons	716 million	878 million
W/W avg. daily flow	1.96 million	2.47 million
Water treatment gall.	532 million	557 million
Water daily flow avg.	1.5 million	1.52 million
Water max.daily	2.391 million	2.549 million

Guns Don't Kill

The quote, “guns don't kill people, people kill people” comes from NRA members and other gun rights advocates. If that is true then a corollary, “guns don't kill kids, kids kill kids” applies.

Example DETROIT: 1/17/14— A 4-year-old boy was fatally shot Thursday in what police said was a tragic, avoidable accident. The shooter was the boy's 4-year-old female cousin

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/12/children-killed-guns-newtown-anniversary

A year after the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Mother Jones has analyzed the subsequent deaths of 194 children ages 12 and under who were reported in news accounts to have died.

72 of the young victims either pulled the trigger themselves or were shot dead by another kid.

At least 52 deaths involved a child handling a gun left unsecured.

Paul Hunter