Debunking Myths About Issues 18 & 19
Like most Macedonia residents, I consider myself a reasonable person regarding tax and levy issues. I don’t want to spend any more than is necessary; and I want to be sure the city is being a good steward of our resources. I also want to live in a nice community and protect my property value. I’ve been perplexed in reading the information put out by groups challenging City Hall and the information from City Hall itself – the numbers just weren’t adding up.
On October 13, 2016 I attended a City Hall sponsored Community Forum to get to the facts and decide how to vote. I learned some interesting facts about our Recreation Center:
- The Recreation Center is not losing money, it is supported by the current levy which is up for renewal and will not raise taxes.
- There is a great plan for the new Recreation Center – Check out City Hall or MacRec.com for more renderings and details.
- After 20 years of use our Recreation Center is in need of repairs and updates to help us compete with surrounding communities.
Regarding our roads, I have read information and viewed a presentation provided by Macedonia Civic Information which led me to believe there is a budget surplus to pay for the needed road repairs and repaving. I was surprised to learn:
- $591,992 of the $1,076,350 debt that is being retired in 2016 is paid for out of the Family Recreation Center Fund and those monies must stay in that fund. The remaining $484,357 is paid for from the General Fund and will be replaced with an increase in debt from 2010 and other new debt. Resulting in only $209,913 decrease in total debt payments.
- The $225,000 from the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District is estimated to be $200,000 and this money cannot be used for road improvements – it is earmarked by NEORSD for storm water and sewer repairs only.
- Governor Kasich withdrew nearly $500,000 a year of state dollars that we used to receive for road repairs and maintenance.
- Governor Kasich also eliminated the Tangible Personal Property Tax and the Estate Tax – costing Macedonia around $300,000 a year that had been used to address city needs.
- Macedonia is estimated to have cash reserves of only $700,000 by the end of this year (currently around $500,000).
- The Summit County Development Finance Authority could provide us a bond to finance these repairs – which would be repaid by Macedonia residents as a debt.
- 80% of the revenue comes from non-residents and is on Earned Income only – Retirees do not pay on Pension or Social Security, and Unemployment income does not pay.
After digging into the financial statements and asking many questions I’ve concluded that a vote FOR Issues 18 and 19 is the only responsible choice we can make if we want to continue to live in a great city. Voting no will simply force the city to defer what needs to be done – making it more costly to do in the future. Voting against Issues 18 & 19 will have very real consequences. The depletion of our Parks and Recreation Center, diminished property values, escalating costs to repair our roads in the future, and many other challenges. This work must be done – now or later.
Don’t take my word for it – do your own due diligence. Go to Macedonia.oh.us and inspect our current and past budgets. Call and speak to the Mayor, your City Council Members, or Rhonda Hall our Finance Director. Voting YES on issues 18 & 19 is the only responsible choice to maintain our great city.
