Marion City Council Tuesday evening started exploring a proposal to ask voters to increase the City’s income tax. The proposal calls for an increase of .25 percent, making the total rate 2 percent, which would be earmarked for specific departments, including police and fire. It would be the first income tax increase since 1988.
The increase would be split up between several departments, with the police and the fire departments each receiving 40 percent and the streets department and dispatch center each receiving 10 percent. With an expected revenue increase of $1.7 million per year, the police and fire departments would see budget increases of about $680,000 each.
City Council cannot automatically increase the income tax rate. The issue would be placed on the ballot for the November General Election for voters to approve or deny. To be placed on that ballot, City Council must approve the measure by the last week of July.
Marion Mayor Scott Schertzer said, at 2 percent, the City of Marion’s income tax would still be very low when compared with other central Ohio communities. He said this increase would basically replace the cuts made by the State of Ohio to the local government funds.
Mayor Schertzer said the increase would mean re-hiring police and fire department personnel and would mean the re-opening of the fire station on Bellefontaine Avenue.
When asked about the reasoning for the specific splits between departments, Mayor Schertzer said, “We do believe the lion’s share should go to the police and fire and it should go to them equally.” He did say he was willing to discuss changes to the actual percentages.
Finance Committee member Josh Daniels requested that the police and fire departments present a report on how they would use the increase in funding. He said he feels, without meaning to slight the importance of the fire department, that the most pressing need in Marion is an increase in police protection.
Mayor Schertzer state that the majority of the increases would go towards personnel, but both chiefs signaled they would prepare a breakdown.
Finance Committee member Dale Osborn pointed to the fact that at one point the City of Marion had over 60 officers. The police department currently has 41 employees, including the chief, while the fire department has 49 employees, including the chief and fire inspector. Osborn said the decrease is not the fault of any one administration, but just a fact of the times and economy.
“We’re losing the battle,” said Osborn, referring to local crime, but said he believes they can start winning it with the help of the community support in approving the tax increase.
The Bellefontaine Avenue Fire Station is currently closed a little over 50 percent of the time. Chief Ralph Zwolle said this station is very important and cuts down on the response time for medical emergencies. Osborn agreed and explained that the station allows the fire department to respond more effectively if there are trains blocking the tracks.
In discussing the revenue the City receives from EMS billing, Daniels asked if the City is charging enough to reimburse itself for the services provided. The City currently bills the insurance companies of people they transport by medical squad. Medicaid pays about $230 per run while private insurance companies are billed $700. Those who use a squad, but are not City residents, are billed $700 regardless if they have insurance or not.
Chief Zwolle explained that the current charges are in line with the national averages. He said if they charge too much, the insurance companies will balk and say the City is gouging. Chief Zwolle did say that with more staff, the department could handle more calls and even help the fire departments outside the City limits. He explained that Marion Township Fire Department handled about 180 calls last year for the City. If the City could have taken those calls, it would have meant more income through EMS billing.
City Council member Mike Thomas explained that if people want to know the concerns of the community, they should attend meetings of the growing number of block watch groups. He explained that when he attended these meetings years ago, the concerns were sometimes about crime, but were mostly about traffic, tall grass, and other minor issues that were easily solved.
Thomas said those concerns have changed and are more serious now. He said a new block watch started meeting a few months ago. The first meeting had six people attend while the second meeting saw 30 people attend because people are concerned about crime. Thomas said the community needs this tax increase to help with police and fire services.
Thomas explained that emergency services are not the only areas in need. He said there are now just seven people in the Streets Department when there used to be over twenty. He said they can barely function to get basic things done like filling potholes.
Thomas agreed with the Mayor’s statement that the local income tax rate would still be low in comparison with other communities. He pointed to Columbus which is charging 2.5 percent and still has a policy that they do not plow secondary streets until there is four inches of snow.
The attendance was small at the Tuesday meeting and no one spoke in opposition to the increase proposal.
The Finance Committee voted 3-0 to send the proposal on to the full City Council for them to discuss at their next meeting on Monday, June 25.
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