ALBANY, Ohio — At its May 7 meeting, Albany Village Council discussed tax levies, council member wages and upcoming village events.
Council member Larry Payne proposed returning the council member wage to $100, up from the current $50. The wage was reduced in recent years as the village tightened its budget.
Raising the wage would be beneficial because it would motivate more people to join the council and to get more active in their community, Payne said.
Council member Debbie Andrews disagreed: “I think that working on the village council is really a community service role. I don’t accept payment for the work I do here, and I don’t think people really interested in helping their community need to be either.”
Council member Neal Reynolds said the idea of raising council pay to entice potential members “feels like bribing new people to join.”
“I mean, look at the audience, it’s practically empty,” he said.
No members of the public attended the meeting. The only people in the audience were this reporter and Albany Police Chief Lewis Whitmore, who was sitting in the audience due to not having a seat at the main table.
Council member Elliot John-Conry disagreed.
“It’s not bribery. $100 to come to four to six meetings a month isn’t bribery — it’s a job,” said council member Elliot John-Conry. “Albany has the most active village mayor in the county, so we also have the highest-paid village mayor in the county. We also have the most active village council in the county. With the cost of living going up, if we can afford it, we should do it.”
Village Fiscal Officer Susan Baker said that increasing the wage by $50 would cost the village $4,000.
“I think we can pull together $4,000 but you don’t have a huge general fund. If you really want to do this, you might have to cut some things,” Baker said.
After much discussion the village council decided to table this subject for a later meeting.
The deadline to decide whether to increase the council member wage will not be until the general election in November. This is because the wages of council members can not be raised in the same term as the raise was voted on. Four of the 6 council seats will be up in the 2025 general election, so if the council does not pass a raise before then, no raise would go into effect until November 2027.
In legislation, the council adopted Ordinance 2025-08, which moves village environmental and landscaping standards from chapter 154, article 7 of the Albany Village Code to chapter 154, article 9.
The ordinance also changes how planned unit development regulations are written. The council found that the previous planned unit development regulations were confusing and didn’t establish a clear process for the approval of new planned unit developments. Once rewritten, the regulations will move to chapter 154, article 7 of the Albany Village Code.
Before the end of the meeting, council member Tammy Goodin talked about Food Truck Friday, which has been working on. The event, the first of its kind in Albany, will be held June 6 at the Albany Baptist Church, 5331 State St.
“We don’t usually get food trucks out here unless there’s a festival,” Goodin said. “I worked with some local food trucks to have them come down and let the community come out and get something to eat.”
Goodin hopes that event will be successful so that vendors will come out next year.
Finance committee report
The council’s finance committee met before the regular council meeting. Baker presented the report from that meeting.
First, Baker issued a correction from the last meeting, where they talked about putting a levy on the ballot for the fire department. A levy had already been passed the year before, and therefore the village council didn’t need to do anything about it right now.
Baker then talked about the difference between a renewal and replacement levy for the village police department. Ohio House Bill 920, passed in 1976, restricts the revenue generated by a property tax levy to the same amount, year over year. Renewing a levy keeps the revenue level; replacing it resets the revenue potential based on current property values.
“A renewal brings in slightly less and less money each year until we replace it,” Baker said. “Once it’s replaced, the cycle starts again at zero.”
In this case, renewing the levy would bring in $24,712 per year; a replacement would generate $31,387 annually.
However, the question may be moot. A bill moving through the legislature would eliminate property taxes altogether.The bill passed in the House but is still in committee for the Senate.
Baker wondered if it would be worthwhile for the village to move forward with a replacement levy if the tax would end up being struck down by the state.
Payne proposed to wait a couple of weeks to see which way the Senate goes before voting on anything.
Council member Neal Reynolds also said he would try to email someone he knows in the state house to see if he could get an inside scoop.
Baker also talked about wanting to hire some IT help for the village staff.
“Anyplace that has computers needs someone they can call on for IT,” Baker said. “In my time working at Albany Village Council, about one and a half years, I’ve had 5 IT issues where I needed to call somebody else for help.”
Baker recommended hiring Travis Grate, from Grate Consulting, who had remotely helped her out a lot in the past. Baker said that Grate’s standard rate was $75 per hour, but that he was willing to do a bundle deal of 3 hours a month for $200, going back to the rate of $75 for any time over the 3 allotted hours.
Payne proposed offering a 7-month contract, from June 1 to Dec. 31. If it ends up being useful, Payne suggested they could enter a longer-term contract with Grate Consulting for the new year.
Planning commission report
In his report from the planning commission, Reynolds said the commission is ready to announce the Albany 2025 Comprehensive Village Plan for the next 25 years. Once the comprehensive plan has been announced, it will just need to be approved by the council for it to go into effect.
The plan shows businesses and residents what they can expect from village government in terms of changes to zoning or construction of new developments.
“The plan will also help us to get more grants, because the grant givers will know that we know what we’re talking about when we send them proposals,” said Reynolds.
Public opinion has been collected at previous public hearings, Reynolds said. Another is planned at 6 p.m. Thursday, May 15 at 6 p.m. in the Village Council Chambers at Albany Village Hall, 5153 Alton St.
Village council member Deb Moreland asked Reynolds to write up a summary to post on the village Facebook page the day of the meeting so attendees will know what will be talked about.
Albany Village Council meets the first and third Wednesdays of each month at 6 p.m. at the Albany Village Hall, 5153 Alton St., Albany.
