Wadsworth Mayor Robin Laubaugh delivered her annual State of the City speech to a meeting of the Wadsworth Area Chamber of Commerce Wednesday afternoon.
The Mayor says while money coming from the Income Tax has been flat for a number of years, they have been able to maintain a steady budget through doing more with less and through attrition. All total, Wadsworth’s annual budget approaches $100 million.
Mayor Laubaugh said the city’s finances are in good shape. The Mayor also reported that Wadsworth has lost almost one-million dollars in funding due to a reduction in the Local Government Fund from the State of Ohio.
Following the Mayor to the podium was Service Director Robert Patrick, Economic Development Director Harry Stark and Public Safety Director Matt Hiscock.
Patrick said Wadsworth spent over one-million dollars last year in Street Improvement Projects, thanks to the one-tenth of one-percent increase in the income tax rate back in 2011. He said the city hopes to get this year’s Street Improvements done by early summer.
Stark talked about the four expansion projects that took place in Wadsworth in 2015. Those projects added $6 million in payroll to the city’s economy. For 2015, there were $43 million dollars in new construction projects that took place in Wadsworth. $24 million dollars of that total was in residential development.
Hiscock said that sometime this summer, railroad crossing gates and warning lights will be installed at the Silvercreek railroad crossing. And Hiscock says that the Wadsworth Police Department is up to its full capacity of 31 members.
