YOUNGSTOWN — An “unexpected windfall” in business income growth from a major employer led to Youngstown seeing a 16.42% increase in income tax collection in 2024, its finance director said.

The city ended 2024 with a record $61,100,100 from the 2.75% income tax and business profit tax it received.

Finance Director Kyle Miasek had predicted a 1.75% increase from the $52,481,100 the city collected in 2023. That would have resulted in the city collecting $53,268,317 in income and profit tax in 2024.

But the business profit tax grew by an unexpected 131.56% — going from $5,564,600 in 2023 to $12,885,300.

“It was a one-time growth in the business tax driven by inflationary pressures that occurred coming out of COVID,” Miasek said. “It was an unexpected windfall that went way beyond what we envisioned.”

The city’s policy is to not discuss individual businesses, with Miasek saying the business profit tax was shared with Girard.

The city and Girard only share profit taxes on Vallourec Star, which makes seamless steel tubes, through a Joint Economic Development District agreement.

Of the $8,619,000 increase in tax collections in 2024 compared to 2023, $7,320,700 came from the business profit tax.

“There is no expectation of this occurring again in the immediate future based on conversations I have had with the entity that provided that windfall,” Miasek said.

The amount of income tax collected from those who work and / or live in the city, which makes up the largest amount of money the city received from the 2.75% tax, went up 2.83% in 2024 compared to the previous year. Miasek had anticipated that increase to be 1.25%.

The city gets about 85% of its income tax from those working in the city but living outside of it.

Also, the city saw a 2.03% increase in income tax revenue in 2024 from those such as doctors and lawyers who used to do more work in Youngstown before the COVID-19 pandemic.

The city had a 1.1% decrease in 2023 from those professionals and a 9.18% decrease in 2022 so the impact has lessened in the past two years, Miasek said. Miasek anticipates a 1.48% increase in that income tax for 2025.

This is the third year in a row that the city broke its record for income tax collections and the first time the amount exceeded $60 million.

Before 2022, the city never collected more than $50 million in income tax. The old record was $49,815,000 in 2006.

That was broken in 2022 when $50,879,800 was collected and then again in 2023 when the city received $52,481,100.

Because the unusually large business income tax windfall in 2024 won’t happen this year, Miasek is expecting tax collections to drop by 11.74% this year. That would be a collection of $53,925,000.

That is a slightly lower amount than if the city saw 1.5% annual increases in 2024 and this year.

Miasek’s projection includes a 2% growth in individual income tax payments and a 63.02% decline in business profit taxes.

The city is still working on its 2025 budget. The one-time influx of business property tax revenue will be used for capital improvement purchases and road improvement projects, Miasek said.

City council has until the end of the month to pass the budget. Council is expected to approve the spending package at a March 26 meeting.