RITA

February means tax season is upon us. Since 2011 Harrison’s income tax program has been administered by RITA – the Regional Income Tax Agency. On its surface the concept seems reasonable: Pooling resources to achieve economies of scale saves cities money and allows for better customer service for taxpayers. The delivery on that promise though has been less than stellar.

In the early days filing was abysmal. The paper forms were designed to be one size fits all for the hundreds of RITA cities in Ohio each with its own unique rules. Then came e-filing. As a software professional I was embarrassed for them with their first attempts at online filing. It’s gotten better in recent years but filing is still a bit of a chore. Service on the other hand remains an issue. You don’t have to look very far to find people getting billed in error, notices of taxes due to people not living in Harrison, and more.

As the chorus of “kick RITA to the curb” grows louder I have to wonder:

• How much does the city pay RITA? How is that calculated – fixed rate? Cost per return processed? Percentage of revenue collected? Some other method?
• Harrison has changed considerably in the last 14 years. Do the economics that made sense in 2011 still hold true in 2025?
• Is it truly a stick with RITA or go solo proposition? A couple years back the city of Euclid started working toward a hybrid model. Could something like that allow us to benefit from the economies of scale in areas like IT and security while at the same time upping the level of customer service?