They Wanted to Save Their 119-Year-Old Village. So They Got Rid of It.

A village of 5,000 people outside of Cincinnati revolted against a 1 percent income tax, voting instead to dissolve the town. Credit... Maddie McGarvey for The New York Times

A feud over local taxes turned into a referendum on government itself. But Election Day left residents as divided as ever.

Sarah Mervosh
Nov. 26, 2019

AMELIA, Ohio — There were allegations of suspicious political donations and rumors about fake social media accounts. Protesters wore T-shirts that said “Stop the tyranny!” At one point, a former official was escorted out of a public meeting in handcuffs.

For more than a year, the residents of Amelia, just outside Cincinnati, have been consumed by a fiery debate over a proposal to impose a new local tax of just 1 percent. This month, voters found a way around the problem — by getting rid of their 119-year-old village altogether.

In some ways, the dramatic move, which takes effect this week, reflects the frugal, small-government mind-set that permeates Amelia, a conservative community of 5,000 people where the median household income is $61,500. Many residents are reluctant to hand over any more of their paychecks to the government, even the one that picks up their leaves in the fall and plows snow from their streets through the winter.

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