Council approves RITA agreement

Voters nixed plan last year

Euclid City Council voted at its Oct. 19 meeting to pass an ordinance that would allow the city’s tax department to begin an agreement with the Regional Income Tax Agency to collect municipal income taxes moving forward.

Euclid residents had voted against using RITA to file their municipal income taxes when the issue was on ballots in 2019. According to Mayor Kirsten Holzheimer Gail, the initial plan would have essentially eliminated the local tax department and turned it over to RITA.

“For the average resident, there should not be any change. If they’re used to coming in here, they can still come in here.” — Kirsten Holzheimer Gail

Gail said that she and the Council understood voters’ concerns, which included losing the local customer service and the potential for the tax department’s jobs being outsourced.

She said they went back to the drawing board for the current RITA transition plan, which began with consulting the tax department staff on what should be done to modernize the system.

“We did ask the tax department to look at it — bring us options, what do you need to do your job? Because we knew we needed to provide e-filing. We needed to be able to provide more virtual service and we needed to upgrade what we’re doing,” Gail said.

“We looked at options, and when it came down to it, there were not other options that even compared to what RITA could offer — because RITA is a regional service that serves 300-plus communities. They’ve developed this specific software and technology and processes that make them successful. So there was no comparison,” she said.

Gail emphasized that the main difference between the two plans is that the most recent ordinance keeps the local tax department completely intact. They will be able to utilize the technology that RITA uses by partnering with it, but without any Euclid tax staff losing their jobs.

She said that Euclid taxpayers should not experience any major changes in how they file as a result of the transition.

“For the average resident, there should not be any change. If they’re used to coming in here, they can still come in here. We have a number of people that just bring their W2s in, and our tax department helps them figure out how much they owe and they pay it. They can still do that,” she said.

“The benefit is, there’s a number of people that want to be able to e-file and want to be able to get service if it’s 10 o’clock at night and they have a question they can call in [to RITA]. So it really is the best of both, if you don’t want to deal with RITA you don’t have to. Our tax department will remain here and be able to help you, like they always have — and a step further, if they get a letter from RITA that they think is not correct, they could bring it here and our tax department can help them figure it out,” Gail said.

The tax department itself is undergoing office renovations that will allow them to interact more safely with the public with social distancing practices in place. Gail said the renovations will be complete for the 2021 tax season.

The mayor said her current goal is to effectively transition to the RITA partnership as early as February.