04/27/2026
Again, this is NOT a page ran by the Village of Morral. Some seem to miss that point. We will share important information about the Village of Morral and may share information about Morral by others upon review. We do not endorse anything shared by others.
The following was sent to us by Jim Forry Jr. It is long, but should be useful, especially to those attending the special Village Council Meeting tonight at 6:30pm at the Morral Firehouse to address the financial concerns of former Mayor Greg Stephens.
From Jim Forry Jr.
"To the residents of Village of Morral on April 22, 2026
Re: Letter about the income tax and proposed removal by Greg Stephens, former mayor of Morral.
Before you get excited about Greg’s push to remove the 1% income tax or at minimum reduce it. Do you know that is the biggest part of the income the Village gets to operate? Without it, no more street work (more on this later), no snow removal, no park and other town lot mowing, most likely the closure of the park. Streetlights would be out too. No more extra patrols by the Sherriff department.
1st our council members are only paid $50/month, with the hours most put in, they make well under minimum wage for their time.
2nd our town workers barley get more than the minimum wage.
3rd per streets, big complaint is very little has been done for years. The reason is that council knew the sewer project was coming, so it would be a waste of money to pave streets to only have them torn up during the construction project. Council is working on grants to work with the funds the Village has saved up to get all streets paved after the construction project is over. Based on how grants work and settling of the trenches, this complete paving will not happen this year. Without the income tax it will NEVER happen.
4th per sidewalks, same thing as streets.
5th tree trimming/removal work is done with the income tax. I personally would like to see the Village get back to replacing trees that have been and will be removed.
6th the park. Without the income we could not have the park. The former park levy (long gone) never covered the cost to maintain the park. The insurance company has required extensive playground equipment replacement. This will take a lot of money, again to stretch the funds saved up, the Village has applied for various grants.
I personally am against lowering the income tax until all of these projects are completed. Morral Companies pays well over half the income tax the Village collects, and they still donate to the Village.
If the council was to remove the income tax or Greg puts it on the ballot as he has said he would do if council does not do as he has ordered them to do so it would greatly hurt the Village. Greg has told council they could put a levy back on the ballot like we use to have. The problem with levies is that they unfairly punish the elderly and lower income families. As mentioned, currently Morral Companies pays the majority. They would pay far less if a levy was passed and the retired people that do not pay income tax and the lower income who may not pay or pay very little would all pay more. Even if you rent, your landlord WILL pass on the increased cost of a levy.
But most likely you the voters would not pass a levy. The answer to this is either bring back the income tax (if Ohio would allow) and for Greg this gets his name off it since he was mayor for the current income tax. If no levy, no income tax, then some say well Salt Rock Township would take over, which they might have to, but they will not have the income tax, they will still only have the money they have now but be expected to maintain more. They will have to decide what gets priority, which would be the two main streets, this would apply to paving and snow removal. The park may get mowed once a month, if they have the time and money, but most likely will be closed.
Greg’s other issue is the Village is sitting on too much money, that they should spend every penny they collect same year they collect it. Without the current balance, what I call “savings” they could not get some of the grants as it would show the Village lives on the edge, not able to save. This fund could also be considered a “rainy day fund”. You never know when something will break. As it is now, the Village can afford to fix or replace the equipment they have without taking out a loan.
There is a base levy for Morral, not sure what it brings in and the Village did try to get it removed when they went with the income tax, but the base is required by Ohio law. But it is so little the Village could not operate on it alone.
Is our Village perfect? No, but it is far better than many. Are our council members and mayor perfect? No, but they do try and like any of make mistakes. They also have to work with only a few speaking up, they really would like to hear from more, if not able to attend a meeting, then at least write a letter to address your concerns and also what you like that you see, everyone likes to know the areas they are doing something right with. If you do not like what they are doing, then get involved, attend meetings, even run for office, but be warned, you might find it is not as easy as you thought. It cannot be a one man show, so unlike the state and national politicians like to claim, you cannot come in and by yourself change everything, it does take a team approach.
If you cannot attend Greg’s Special council meeting next Monday to address this complaint of his, then PLEASE take the time and write a letter to council, you can email it to: [email protected] or send it to the Village PO Box 156. If you still support the removal of the income tax, that is your right, but be warned if it goes away, you may not like what happens to the Village.
In closing, my wife Barb is one of the council members and this letter is NOT from her, it is from me as I am afraid she and others on council may not be as vocal on this as they should. To some I am just another troublemaker for the Village of Morral, but I do actually care, even if I do not come across that way.
Thank you for your time and consideration on what I have addressed. Please share with your neighbors.
Sincerely,
Jim Forry Jr. resident of Morral most of my life (over 50 years)"
