Highland Heights Mayor and Safety Director Chuck Brunello Jr. released a statement in a recent city-wide newsletter that addressed the city’s future financial state. According to Brunello, the city’s finances are projected to be in a deficit by the 2026 fiscal year. He stated in the newsletter t hat the reason was because the city’s “bottom line has been impacted by the shift to remote work at large employers and as a result our tax revenue has effectively declined since 2019.” Progressive Insurance moved much of its workforce to remote from its large complex in Mayfield Village but does currently operate its location “Omega North” in Highland Heights, 603 Alpha Drive, which serves as a claims training center for new hires as well as, its IT Configurations Center, Creative Business Operations, and their Ohio Claims and House Counsel, according to their website. In light of the recent changes, Brunello stated that they will be conducting a “research project” to gain an insight on what the community feels is important. As part of that project he directed people to a survey which closes on April 7 but also encouraged residents to reach out directly to give input on the city. He noted that the results will be shared with the community and that they will be holding stakeholder meetings at a later date. The survey includes questions such as, if residents would prefer to see a new tax revenue increase to keep current service levels, or “significant cuts to city budget to reduce staffing and service levels” with an additional option of a mix of both. It also asks residents to list from extremely important to not that important each department should be protected from budget cuts, listing everything from the police department to special community events. In addition, questions asking residents if they feel city council and the mayor operate transparently, will make good financial decisions, if the city is “spending too much on non- ‘essential’ city services, and if “Highland Heights has not done enough to bring in new businesses since the pandemic, which has reduced our available tax base.” “As we continue to migrate through the city’s financial challenges, I remain committed, as your mayor, to be a good steward and be fiscally responsible of your tax dollars,” Brunello wrote in the newsletter. “Your input is important to us and will allow us to gather the needed information to better understand what is important to our residents.” ...read more read less