Even if City Council votes tonight to place a 3.75-mill property tax levy on the May ballot and Oakwood voters approve it, the city expects to seek additional revenue.

City manager Norbert Klopsch said the remaining budget shortfall will range between $400,000 and $800,000, depending on what’s included in a proposed statewide local income tax uniformity bill that could reduce revenues for most cities.

To close that gap, the city is considering a reduction in the full credit it grants for the earnings taxes residents pay to other cities where they work.

An Oakwood resident who works in Kettering or Dayton currently pays that city’s 2.25 percent local income tax, plus .25 percent to Oakwood, which has a rate of 2.5 percent.

If the credit was reduced to 1.5 percent, for example, the same resident would still pay the other city’s tax, as well as 1 percent to Oakwood. If the reduction was to 1.75 percent, the resident would pay .75 percent of earnings to Oakwood. A credit reduction to 1.75 percent would amount to an estimated $760,000 in revenue.

A credit reduction, which could be voted into law by city council, would be Oakwood’s last measure in response to losing $3 million a year due to elimination of the state inheritance tax and other funding reductions.

“Our final decision would be directly tied to what the state does to our revenue stream,” Klopsch said.

“We need about $400,000 to reach $3 million. If the state leaves the tax code as is, we won’t lose any more revenue. If the state passes a (uniformity) law with the provisions of the former House Bill 601, we will lose about $400,000 more revenue. We could need $800,000 more.”

The property tax levy would raise about $1 million a year.

Oakwood’s other steps include:

Seeking about $500,000 in annual expense cuts, over and above eliminating nine full-time positions.

Boosting revenue by $900,000 through new or added fees for service.

Anticipating about $200,000 in new tax revenue (over time) from the Sugar Camp and Pointe Oakwood commercial and residential development.