Chagrin Falls Village Hall

Chagrin Falls needs at least $728,000 to maintain its roads. The village is considering asking residents for an income tax increase.

(Kaitlyn Ridel, NEOMG)

CHAGRIN FALLS, Ohio -- Chagrin Falls needs to scrape together $728,000 to maintain its roads.

Village Council met with residents Monday to talk about how to raise the money. One resident accused the village of going broke. When another asked if the village would be able to make it through the winter, Councilman Justin Herdman said, "It would be very difficult."

Chagrin Falls used to collect about $950,000 from the Ohio Estate Tax, which was phased out last year. While the village believes it can make up part of the loss from other state and federal grants, it still needs about $728,000 to pay for road paving and construction. Council is considering asking residents for a .375 percent increase in income taxes on the November ballot to make up the loss.

"It seems to me, you've done a bad job of communicating you're broke," resident Henry Piper said at the meeting Monday.

"We aren't totally broke; we can maintain a lot of what we have," Councilwoman Janis Evans replied.

However, if the village does not raise income taxes or come up with another way to make up the money, residents could see major damage to roads.

"We can balance our budget and maintain where we are, we simply cannot fix our streets," Evans said. "It is up to the voters to decide whether or not they want the streets to continue to disintegrate."

Council has been meeting since spring to pare department budgets. Herdman said Monday that cuts to the police department, which costs $1.7 million annually, would leave the village without an overnight patrolman.

Evans said even making major cuts to the village departments would not raise enough money to pay for road maintenance and construction.

"We are trying to look at all of the possibilities," she said. "We think that we should have an income tax increase that is dedicated for road maintenance and construction. Under those circumstances, I think the residents would support it."

Northeast Ohio Media Group will be hosting a live chat 11 a.m. Thursday to talk about the budget.