LAKEMORE: When voters go to the polls Tuesday, the real question they will face when considering an income tax issue is whether they want to continue living in a village or, at the state’s insistence, become part of Springfield Township.By law, Lakemore, which was placed in fiscal emergency by the state auditor’s office in 2010, may be dissolved by the state unless it pays off more than $1 million in debt.The state granted the village 6› years to accomplish it.Council President Rick Justice, who is challenging incumbent Michael A. Kolomichuk, in Tuesday’s nonpartisan mayoral race, said that debt is the most pressing problem facing the small Summit County community of about 3,000.“I cannot overstate the importance of getting out of fiscal emergency,” Justice said. “As a leader, I cannot stand by and let this village be dissolved.”Because of the state designation, the village may not appropriate funds for any expenditures without the approval of a seven-member oversight commission made up of village and state officials and residents.The mayoral candidates, both members of the commission, disagree on the plan that gained state approval to reduce the debt load. Part of the plan calls for an increase in local income taxes paid by wage earners who work in the village and a decrease in the income tax credit for those who work in other communities.On Tuesday, voters will be asked to approve a 0.25 percentage point increase in the income tax rate for the 9 percent of the village’s population who work in Lakemore. If it wins approval, it would be the first income tax increase in 30 years, bringing the total tax to 2.25 percent.Kolomichuk, the lone vote against the plan the commission approved 6-1, said he remains adamantly opposed because it includes the tax increase.“Past administrations mismanaged money for years, and we get left holding the bag ... and the State Commissioner Paul Marshall has the nerve to tell our village how to manage our taxpayers [sic] money. Maybe he should tell the politicians in Columbus how to manage the states [sic] money,” Kolomichuk wrote Thursday in an email to the Beacon Journal.Marshall, financial planning commission administrator with the Ohio Office of Budget and Management, is chairman of the commission.Today, the village operates on a balanced budget of $2.2 million because officials made extensive cuts that included dismantling the police department and contracting with Springfield Township for police protection, saving $300,000. It also has cut staffing at the fire station at night and reduced full-time and seasonal staff.Lakemore’s financial woes became apparent in 2009, when Edwin Shaw Hospital closed and the village lost the income tax revenue from its employees. The recession further diminished village resources.By law, the village would have five years to reduce its $1.086 million deficit. But the state granted the village an extra year and a half to ease the burden on taxpayers.Kolomichuk said he wanted a much longer timeline for recovery when the village has so many other problems that must be addressed.His idea was not acceptable to the state, said Tom Wolfe, chairman of the council’s Finance Committee.“Our planning had to be something concrete. The state will come in and cut the budget by 15 percent across the board, regardless of whether city services suffered or not,” Wolfe said. “We were trying to find a way to keep operating the village.”For example, the village road department already has been cut to four people. If cuts go any deeper, Lakemore won’t be able to maintain roads, snow removal, the water system and buildings and grounds, he said.Another part of the debt-reduction plan cuts the tax credit the village gives residents who work outside the community by 50 percent. Council passed the measure in June.Justice said the reduction will be temporary.“With the implementation of a Citizens’ Tax Review Board and a sunset clause on the tax credit reduction, we can be assured that the tax credit will return to 100 percent,” he said.Kolomichuk is opposed to council’s action to implement the portion of the plan that called for tax increases. He said he would not support the tax request on the ballot unless council restored the full tax credit.“This could and would discourage anyone from potentially becoming a homeowner in the village while being penalized for working outside the village,” he said.Both candidates agree on the need to lure new business to the community to replace the losses from Edwin Shaw.Kolomichuk maintains the solution to the debt crises is to create an economic base for bringing business and jobs to Lakemore, “so we can help relieve the economic pressure from taxpaying citizens that can least afford the additional burden of increased taxes.”After successfully leading the effort to get the Edwin Shaw property designated as a state brownfield site, Justice said his next step is to use the classification to secure $300,000 in Ohio Department of Development grants to start rehabilitating the property and make it attractive to developers.“My first goal is to be out of fiscal emergency as soon as possible and reinstate the 100 percent tax credit. My second goal is to increase Lakemore’s commercial revenue by attracting more business,” he said.Kathy Antoniotti can be reached at 330-996-3565 or kantoniotti@thebeaconjournal.com.