Hello fellow Macedonian,
In November, as a resident of Macedonia, you will be asked to vote on two tax issues – a 20 year renewal levy for the Macedonia Family Recreation Center and parks system, and a 10 year .25% income tax increase for our roads and sewers. Please read the information I have provided and consider voting YES on both.
Without the renewal of the parks levy and passage of the roads levy, our parks, including the soccer and baseball fields, will not get the attention they deserve, and our roads will fall further into disrepair.
Our recreation center is in jeopardy of losing the funding it needs for maintenance and expansion, and in a few short years it would most likely need to close. Consider what happens to Macedonia if;
- The roads continue to crumble?
- The Recreation Center is no longer in operation and sits abandoned?
Would you want to move your family here? No. Keeping our roads safe and maintaining our parks is essential to keeping Macedonia attractive to potential home buyers and for increasing the values of our homes.
I believe the renewal of the parks levy and the passage of the roads levy will provide the groundwork for prosperity in the City for years to come.
The money collected will be given back to the people of Macedonia through paving our roads and beautifying our Recreation Center & Parks, thus strengthening our City.
The Parks & Recreation Center: (Ballot Issue 19)
The Macedonia Family Recreation Center, which is nearing its 20th birthday, is not only in need of repairs, but also upgrades to the facility and equipment, as well as, a plan to re-purpose the unused space for better functionality. Voting YES on this levy will allow for a maintenance overhaul, a new floor design, and upgraded equipment immediately.
The plans for expansion of the existing facility that include a gymnasium, new locker rooms, multi-purpose rooms, and an outdoor aquatic center will furnish the City with a modern recreation center that will be a source of pride for our community.
Illustrations of future development plans for the Macedonia Family Recreation Center and our City parks are currently being developed by an architectural firm. The Recreation Center and the park system should be celebrated as one of many amenities that the City provides its residents and draw home buyers to our area.
The best part of voting in favor of this levy….all the expansion, all the beautification, and all the improvements will cost you nothing but a YES vote, as the rate you are currently paying regarding the Recreation Center would not change.
This is a renewal levy and not a new tax or an increase in any way. For the same amount that you are paying now, Macedonia can have one of the most attractive and utilized parks systems with walking trials, an amphitheater, lighted baseball fields, a community garden and much, much, more.
The money collected from this renewal levy will be earmarked to be used on improvements to the Recreation Center and parks exclusively. Again, this is not a new tax or an increase.
Families looking to buy a home in this area have many choices. With Macedonia’s low property taxes, strong school system, a rejuvenated parks system with a new outdoor aquatic center, and an expanded and improved Recreation Center, Macedonia would be hard place to overlook. Please vote YES this November.
The Roads: (Ballot Issue 18)
A .25% income tax increase will be the start of a Macedonia Road Maintenance Plan that would continually fund projects that fix the roads in Macedonia over the next 10 years as discussed below. It would provide for funding for preventative and protective measures on roads that include, but are not limited to: crack sealing, hot patching, correcting catch basins, sewer upgrades, and repair of City parking areas.
Each year, starting in 2017, an estimated 1 million dollars will be devoted exclusively to our roads. The money collected from the levy will not go into the general fund to be allocated, but instead, 100% of it will be used to fund road and storm water related issues.
The plan is to use the monies collected from the levy to fix the roads in Macedonia that are rated very poor and poor as first priority. Some of these roads have not been paved since the 1960s and 1970s. Unfortunately, most of the roads rated ‘fair to poor’ are beyond the usefulness of preventative measures and will require more extensive repair and paving.
The second part of the plan, which will also begin in 2017, is to continually maintain, through preventative and protective measures, roads that are rated fair, good, and very good. This will add life to those roads and keep them safe.
A full list of the roads and their ratings can be found on the City’s website at; http://www.macedonia.oh.us/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/GPD-Nov-2015-PCR-DATA.pdf
To maximize the plan’s effectiveness, roads that are close in proximity will be bundled together and fixed during the same time period. This will save both time and money as well as decrease the inconvenience to the community. The administration and council will also be seeking funding from the county, state, and other funding sources for grant money and/or matching funds to maximize the reach of your tax dollars.
How much it will cost you depends on your income and where you work. If you are retired and no longer earn an income, your contribution to better roads is $0 or a minimal amount at best.
If you currently work in a city where the income tax rate is 2.25% or higher, you are already paying the increased rate, but Macedonia is currently not getting the .25%, it is going to the city where you work. If you work in one of these cities, with the income tax code of 2.25% or higher, by voting YES to fix our roads will not increase your taxes.
For a list of local city income tax rates, for Central Collection Agency click here; www.ccatax.ci.cleveland.oh.us/?p=taxrates. For the Regional Income Tax Agency (RITA) click here; www.ritaohio.com/municipalities/rita-member-list/. Also, keep in mind two other factors;
- Akron and Cleveland has proposed income tax increases to 2.5% on the ballot in November.
- Many communities in the area do have a 2% income tax rate, but also have a tax credit that is lower than the 100%. This means that residents are paying the city where they live more in taxes. Macedonia’s tax credit would remain at 100%
If you work in Macedonia, or a city where the income tax is 2%, you will be paying an extra .25% on your income to the City of Macedonia. That equates to $125/year on every $50k you earn annually. On a $75k salary, your increase would be $187.50 annually, and on $100k, $250 annually. For most residents of Macedonia, this results in less than $25 per month in additional taxes.
The passage of this levy is vital to the improvement of the roads that need repaired and paved immediately, and is essential for the maintenance of the roads moving forward. The preservation of Macedonia’s streets is crucial in maintaining the value of our homes and the safety of our community. Please vote YES this November
If you have any questions please contact me through email at kmbilkie@gmail.com. Once the architect finalizes the renderings for the Rec Center and Longwood Park, I will send them out to you, start a website, and post them on Facebook, but, I will still need your help to get this plan out to everyone!
If this email makes sense to you as a voter, please forward it to people who would like to see our City parks and recreation center grow, and our roads to be fixed and continually maintained, or to people that have questions about the parks renewal levy, and/or the 10 year .25% roads/storm water levy.
Thank you for your time,
Kevin Bilkie
A Town Hall Meeting to discuss Issue 18 is scheduled at City Hall on September 15th at 7:30!
