Commission Discusses Income Tax Appeal Board

With a new city income tax in place, the work to ensure it’s implemented properly never ends for Benton Harbor city leaders. This week, the city commission approved the creation of an Income Tax Board of Review. City Manager Darwin Watson told commissioners it is needed to consider appeals from taxpayers of their city income tax bills. Commissioner Juanita Henry was concerned the Income Tax Board of Review could wind up with only elites serving on it.

“This board has a lot of power to either help the citizens if there’s something that they feel is irregular with the income tax,” Henry said. “I just think that we need to put some more policies in place so we actually give every citizen the opportunity,” Henry said.

Mayor Marcus Muhammad assured Henry the same basic qualifications for serving on any city board will apply to the Income Tax Board of Review. They include not being behind on city taxes and getting the relevant training. It’s expected the new city income tax of 1% for residents and 0.5% for non-residents who work in the city will generate about $2 million per year for street repairs and city emergencies.