The Ugly Truth: It's about Union Contracts!

Recently a very motivated citizen had the chance to sift through the 160+ pages of the Xenia City budget and wrote the following:

[Xenia] Union has taken concessions and wage freezes in the past 2 years, but haven't given anything up they have just delayed the inevitable..... they will get a 11% cost of living increase in 2011!! The City pays full ride health dental and life insurance for most of the City employees. The health insurance is a PPO plan with a $250 deductible for single person and a $500 deductible for family. The city could save 3-6% just buy asking the city employee's to pay for more, $750 deduct for single and $1500 for family. Could even save more if they put city employee's on a HSA plan with a $1500 deduct single and $3000 deduct for family, if the city partially fund the deduct by putting $750 for single and 1500 for family into the HSA account. At the end of the day the City could save the tax payers 3-5 hundred thousand dollars a year! The current cost to the City for Heath Insurance right now is $1.667 million. These r just estimates based on my meeting with a Anthem ins agent a few days ago.As i said before i have a complete City budget and personnel budget as of feb 15th.

Dear Xenia resident, will you vote to pay more taxes just to satisfy the outrageous Union benefits listed above? Please vote NO on Issue 7 on May 4, 2010!

Can you trust City of Xenia politicians?

Stay tuned - soon to be published: Internal Xenia City documents shine disturbing light into city processes and the City's disregard for the real needs of its citizens!

A FOIA request filed with the city of Xenia revealed internal documents, correspondence, contracts and discussions containing disturbing elements:

1. City of Xenia awarded no-bid contracts in violation of its own policies and city laws.
2. City of Xenia spent $4,000 of taxpayers funds on a biased community survey which was in fact a front for reading the community's possible response for a planned tax increase, and a clearly inappropriate spending of city funds.
3. City of Xenia spent $25,000 of taxpayers funds on a consultant to help sell the tax levy to the community, in apparent violation of Ohio Elections laws.
4. City of Xenia is using a "fact sheet" and the monthly utilities mailing process as means to advertise and promote the planned tax increase, in apparent violation of Ohio Elections law.
5. Rather than giving citizens honest and heart-to-heart answers, the City of Xenia is using a secret internal document called "TALKING POINTS" marked "***NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION***" which contains canned answers provided by outside consultants who are not even residents of Xenia, aimed at promoting and advertising Issue 7 by the city, in apparent violation of Ohio Election laws.

Copies of these documents and more will be made available here on this website, and we are counting on YOU, the resident of Xenia to step up and say "enough" to this kind of non-chalant attitude by City Management towards you and your hard-earned income.

Help stop the Xenia Tax Levy

This web page is an effort by Xenia City residents attempting to create awareness and put a stop to the Xenia City's efforts to raise our income tax by an astounding amount of 28.57%. The City placed the tax levy increase on the May 4 primary elections ballot as Issue 7.

The City of Xenia has mounted an aggressive marketing campaign to promote and provide support for the tax levy via websites and marketing materials mailed to the homes of city residents, so we need your support in defeating this measure.

What you can do to help defeat this measure:

1. Contact all your friends and family and let them know that the City of Xenia is trying to raise their income tax by 28.5% - tell them to VOTE NO ON ISSUE 7.
2. Tell every resident you know to go vote on May 4, 2010 and not stay home. The city places this measure on the May ballot for a reason, counting on only a few people voting such as city employees, union workers and those in favor of the tax increase.
3. Calling the city to complain will not help as they already created a "talking points" list in order to feed you canned answers when you contact them.
4. Call local newspapers, radio stations and media to let them know that you do not want this measure to pass.

Please contact us at stopxeniatax@gmail.com with questions.