One resident said he thinks voters realize the need for an income tax but differ on how much and how it should be spent.

"I think they need to ask for a reasonable amount -- a 1-percent or 1.25-percent (tax) -- and then say we can prove to you that we can make that be effective," said Carl Roshong, a Pataskala property owner. "They can manage with that, but they may need to come back later and ask for more."

The city's request for a 2-percent income tax with a 1-percent credit for residents paying a tax elsewhere failed nearly 2-to-1 Nov. 4, with 64.37 percent voting against it and 35.63 percent voting for it. The tax was expected to raise $2,864,491 at full collection.

Don Smiley, a Pataskala resident since 2006, said he was surprised at the wide margin.

"That it wasn't even close baffles me," he said. "I think it's a matter of so many dollars and people getting fed up with paying taxes."

Smiley, owner of Smiley Productions Inc., said that's one of the reasons he volunteered to tape council meetings. Recordings have been accessible through the city's Web site since September.

"I don't think a lot of people really know what goes on in the city. That's why I volunteered to do the video -- to show people what really goes on," he said. "Obviously, council members don't want to have to cut stuff, but they're also stuck in a situation where they don't have any money."

Roshong, who has lived in Pataskala for 15 years and owns commercial and residential properties, said he likes the area but questions some of the Pataskala mayor's and council's decisions.

"I think they've (the mayor and council) lost -- if they ever had any -- trust from the public," he said. "They haven't managed well: That's evidenced by their failure (of the income tax)."

Smiley said he doesn't see the mistrust of council, but he sees unwillingness by people to increase taxes.

Smiley lives on Dixon Road, which, he said, is in bad condition and floods a lot. He said he's interested to see what council members will do now that the income tax has failed.

"I hate to see the roads go to heck, but sometimes I think you have to feel pain before you get better," Smiley said.

Bruce Baird, former Pataskala mayor and a local real estate agent, said people should understand that they have to pay for the types of services they want.

"People have to realize to get good roads and police protection, we have to pay for them," he said. "That's always been the case, whether it's a township or a village."

Baird was mayor from 1969 to 1972 and from 1996 to 2006. Baird, 70, is a lifelong Pataskala-area resident and said the city is attractive partly because of its proximity to Columbus.

"We have close access to state Route 16 and (state Route) 310. There are two state highways in town," he said. "We're close to the new (state Route) 161 and Interstate 70. A lot of nice people live here."

Officials working with the Citizens for Fair Taxation, the political-action committee supporting the ballot issue, tried to educate the public on how the money could be spent. Members set up question-and-answer sessions in neighborhoods, working from a loaned recreational vehicle, and posted financial information on the PAC's Web site.

"I think they tried quite an educational process with their town-hall meetings to try and inform people why we need it (the tax)," Baird said. "But I think at one of them they had about 10 people from a subdivision that has 300 to 400 in it. Sometimes, people are not as interested as they should be until it affects them directly."

Council last month agreed to cut more than $600,000 from the budget if the income tax failed. That included discontinuing the parks and recreation department, cutting one person from the planning and zoning department, cutting two people out of the public-services and street department, suspending road resurfacing, suspending capital improvements projects to those with grant funding, limiting snow removal to major collector and arterial streets, only plowing in subdivisions during declared snow emergencies in 2009, and suspending repair and replacement of street lights in 2009.

Police protection also has been questioned, as the police department receives funding from the city's general fund.

Brian Raybourne, a Pataskala City Councilman who chaired the PAC, said the city might have to go back to the drawing board now that the residents have spoken.

"We're going to have to make the cuts, whether we like it or not," he said.

Several people in Pataskala have said the property maintenance code approved in June also affected the income-tax issue. Residents fought the code, placing it on the Nov. 4 ballot through a referendum. Residents voted 4,355 to 2,219 to overturn the code.

Smiley said he questioned how council could have enforced the code after cutting one person from the zoning department.

"A lot of people talked to me about that," Smiley said. "I think there's a real issue there."

Pataskala City Councilman Bernard Brush spoke against the property-maintenance code, saying it placed an unfair burden on the city's agricultural properties. The code would have regulated residential and commercial properties.

A citizens committee formed last year studied the property-maintenance code and specifically requested that the code address junk vehicles. The committee studied the issue and made recommendations to the city. The planning department and planning commission reviewed the committee's ideas before changes were made and proposed legislation reached council's eyes.

Proponents of the referendum said the code was too extensive and invasive, and voters apparently agreed.

lwince@thisweeknews.com