East Palestine, Ohio – September 27, 2023 – The Village of East Palestine has passed an ordinance to make sure no one is required to pay village income taxes on any payments they receive for derailment-related expenses or losses. The new ordinance goes into effect immediately and applies to derailment-related payments received in all of 2023 as well as future years.
Many individuals and businesses in East Palestine have received payments for expenses or losses from a variety of sources, including Norfolk Southern and others. Unless the village took this step to exempt these payments from taxes, those receiving them would have been required to pay tax on the payments all at once next April 15.
“The derailment has been a big enough burden on everyone. No one should have to pay taxes on this money after what they’ve already gone through in February and ever since,” said Mayor Trent Conaway. “The village council’s priority is to support our people and businesses in every possible way, and this tax exemption is part of that work.”
The ordinance defines train derailment compensation as any payments received for losses related to the February 3, 2023 incident, including payments for property damage, personal injury, business losses, and other expenses.
A similar exemption has already been created for State of Ohio income taxes and one is pending in Congress for federal income taxes.