BEAVERCREEK — Beavercreek residents will be deciding if the city will have an income tax.

If Issue 1 passes in the November election, the city will institute a 1 percent income tax effective Jan. 1, 2022. Earlier this year, Beavercreek City Council added an income tax chapter to the city’s codified ordinances, allowing Beavercreek to ask voters to approve the tax.

Beavercreek — one of six municipalities in the Dayton area to not have such a tax — has tried three previous times to enact some type of income tax, the last coming in 2013.

If Issue 1 passes, the 3.4 mill property tax levy for streets that expires Dec. 31, 2021 would not be renewed providing property tax relief, according to wording of the tax code. Bill Kucera, financial administrative services director, said at previous meetings that passage of the tax could reduce the number of levies the city seeks in the future and could help fund a backlog of infrastructure and capital improvement projects.

The city will provide a credit up to 1 percent for residents who pay income taxes elsewhere and there are myriad exemptions including military pay, Social Security benefits, unemployment, child support/alimony, and intangible income such as income yield, interest, capital gains, dividends or income arising from ownership, sale, exchange or other disposition of intangible property.

Tony Corvo, who has spoken against the income tax at several meetings, said a property tax levy allows citizens to control spending, whereas an income tax transfers that power to the elected officials. He referenced a speaker from a previous meeting who indicated she trusted council to make the right decision.

“I don’t trust you when you’re sitting in those seats,” Corvo said at a meeting. “I don’t trust the state legislature. I don’t trust the federal legislature. That’s a good thing. That’s built into the constitution.”

He said even if the current council members are all “angels,” he worries about the council members elected after them.

Al Cummings, who has lived in Beavercreek for 40 years, said he trusts the council and is in favor of the income tax.

“I like the idea of having nonresidents pay our bills, frankly,” he said, adding that an income tax will allow the city to create a funding plan for the future.

Vice Mayor Don Adams previously said that Beavercreek is 40 years old and like most things, with age comes the need for repairs.

“We have to have money to repair it,” he said. “I don’t want to see Beavercreek fall apart.”

Adams said there are some things out there “that can’t be touched with any other tax base” the city receives.