Youngstown has a local income tax rate of 2.75%!! The only way to attract new industry is for the city to give away free land and generous tax abatements. Nearly all professionals such as doctors, dentists, and lawyers have moved their primary place of business to a location outside of the city. 80% to 90% off all neighborhoods are ghettos that are filled with drugs and thugs. Vicious dogs frequently run loose or are abandoned, and several people including children have been savagedly attacked. There are thousands of abandoned houses and buildings, 99% of which have been stripped of copper and anything else of value. Drive-by shootings occur on a regular basis. The crime and unemployment rates are sky-high. Rental units are not inspected, and slumlords have run roughshod over the city. Poor families are housed in SHACKS that are filled with lead and asbestos. One Section-8 slumlord in particular has a noted tendency to simply "walk away" from his abandoned and destroyed rental units, leaving the city (taxpayers) to foot the bill to demolish them and remediate the properties. Jay Williams the mayor has filled the city's payroll with his "church friends," who do little or no work for $50,000+/year. In an effort to increase the city's tax base, Jay has attempted to force the surrounding townships to form JEDDs with the city to impose the ridiculously high 2.75% local income tax on the workers. He has also threatened to annex the townships outright. The school district is financially insolvent, in academic emergency, and is losing students and staff every year. The roads are in terrible condition, and consist of patches on top of patches. Trash and graffiti are everywhere, and tires are dumped in numerous locations. The south side is the worst side of town, which is just like Detroit. Don't go to the bars on South Ave., for you will be robbed at gunpoint. Recently there has been several sexual assaults, and many sex offenders live on the south side. The city workers are lazy, and I've seen one working while five stand around and do nothing. James Ludt, an honest business owner, tells the truth about how corrupt Youngstown is, and the city repeatedly violates his rights. His building is at Midlothian & Shirley and is a testament to what goes on in Youngstown. They are trying to run him out of town. All building code enforcement is on a "selective prosecution" basis. Certain city officials own property that is in violation of city codes, but nothing is done about it. Residents pay a combined water/sewer/sanitation bill, which is an overinflated rip-off. In the winter, some streets aren't even plowed. All contractors have to be "city licensed," which means you will be ripped-off for any type of work. Whenever the city runs short on money, police are the first to be laid off. They want the residents to live in fear so they will be more amenable to raising the tax rates even higher. The city keeps disseminating propaganda "the city is coming back," but that is pure, unadulterated bullshit. Residents continue to move to the suburbs and out of town. They (the city) seems to believe if you tell a lie long enough that people will believe it. They keep trying to devise highly liberal and illegal plans to try to "force" people to live in their slum city, such as trying to reduce or eliminate development in the suburbs. The suburbs will continue to develop, and anyone smart who can afford it will move to them. If you own a business, don't care about your workers, and want to move to Youngstown, be sure to demand free property and a tax abatement. They will give you both because they are desperate for any type of development. The city even refuses to build a new court/justice center, after the judges sued the city over the deplorable conditions in the existing, dumpy court area. The city needs to build a new jutice center NOW before it gets sued more times.
