The Retired Enlisted Association (TREA)

Empire State Chapter 120 NY— March/April 2007

 

We are TREA: United We Stand. Representing Military Members and Family

General Information

If measure passes, it would be a good tool to keep military retirees in Ohio

 

By John Nolan

Staff Writer

Sunday, April 29, 2007

 

The Ohio Senate is considering a proposal to exempt military retirement pay from the state's personal income tax.

 

Ohio is losing some of its military retirees — including those who enter new careers as defense contractors — because it has not granted this exemption, said a sponsor of the bill, state Sen. Gary Cates, R-West Chester.

 

Extras

Kentucky, Michigan and Pennsylvania are among the states which already do not tax military retiree pay, according to the Retirement Information Living Center.

 

That invites military retirees to leave Ohio for other states which don't impose the tax, Cates said.

 

"If they can shield their military pensions and start a new life elsewhere, they're going to do it," Cates said. "Personally, I feel we need to do this to keep up with other states."

 

There are about 25,000 military retirees in the greater Dayton area, said Chris Kershner, vice president for public policy and economic development at the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce. The chamber supports Cates' bill as a way of retaining residents and jobs in Ohio, Kershner said.

 

"A lot of the contractors are ex-military," Kershner said. "They've got good knowledge of the military, and they're looking to continue to apply that knowledge."

 

John Dalton, who worked at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base before retiring from the Air Force in 1979, stayed on for a job with the Fairborn Chamber of Commerce and has been there for 28 years. Dalton, now director of the chamber, said he knows of other military retirees who have left Ohio for states which don't tax military retirement pensions.

 

Dalton said he hopes Ohio follows suit.

 

"It's long overdue," he said.

 

Gov. Ted Strickland supports excluding military retirees' pensions from state income tax and would be willing to work with the Ohio General Assembly to make it happen, said Keith Dailey, a spokesman for the governor.

 

Cates' bill is before the Ohio Senate's Ways and Means Committee. Assuming that the full Senate ultimately approves it, the state House will consider it, House Speaker Jon Husted said through his spokeswoman, Karen Tabor.

 

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2242 or jnolan@DaytonDailyNews.com.

 

Proposal's cost still unknown

 

State lawmakers are awaiting an Ohio Department of Taxation estimate of how much revenue Ohio would lose if military retiree pensions are exempted from the state's personal income tax. Legislators said the cost must be determined before the bill can proceed to final consideration for approval.

 

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