The Concord Township Board of Trustees has authorized the placement of two levies on the upcoming Nov. 6 general election ballot, both for the renewal of current levies. The first is to maintain the township’s fire department and emergency medical services, and the second for the continued maintenance of the township’s roads.
The ballot language states that the fire levy tax will not begin until the year 2019 and will not be collected until 2020.
“We always put the fire levy on the ballot the year before it’s up,” said Trustee Bart Johnson, chair of the board. “If it fails, we can adjust it and put it back on the ballot.”
According to Trustee Joe Garrett, the current five-year, 2.9-mill fire levy (renewal) cost a taxpayer of a $100,000 home valuation $290 annually. The levy produces $1.2 million in total tax revenue annually for the benefit of the fire department.
According to the township’s web page, the fire department’s fleet of apparatuses consist of:
• Quint 341, a 2000 Sutphen ladder truck with a 61-foot ladder, put into service in 2001
• Engine 341, a 2007 Sutphen engine, a pump truck put into service in April 2007
• Medic 341, a 2007 Horton International, put into service Sept. 2007
• Hazmat 341, a 20-foot tandem axle trailer, put into service in March 2006
• Grass 341, a 1998 Ford F-350 250 with a gallon water tank for grass fires
• Boat 341, a 2008 Achilles inflatable boat powered by a 25-horsepower Johnson outboard engine for water rescues
• Chief 340, a 2008 Ford Expedition truck
• Battalion 340, a 2010 Ford Expedition truck
The ballot language for the fire levy states, “A renewal of a tax for the benefit of Concord Township, Delaware County, Ohio for the purpose of providing and maintaining fire apparatus, mechanical resuscitators, underwater rescue and recovery equipment, or other fire equipment and appliances, buildings and sites therefor, or sources of water supply and materials therefor, for the establishment and maintenance of lines of fire-alarm communications, for the payment of firefighting companies or permanent, part-time, or volunteer firefighting, emergency medical service, administrative, or communications personnel to operate the same, including the payment of any employer contributions required for such personnel under section 145.48 or 742.34 of the Revised Code, for the purchase of ambulance equipment, for the provision of ambulance, paramedic, or other emergency medical services operated by a fire department or firefighting company, or for the payment of other related costs; at a rate not exceeding 2.9 mills for each one dollar of valuation, which amounts to $0.29 for each one hundred dollars of valuation, for 5 years, commencing in 2019, first due in calendar year 2020. A majority affirmative vote is necessary for passage.”
According to Garrett, the second levy — a five-year, 0.4-mill (renewal) levy for the benefit of the township’s roads — cost an owner of a $100,000 home $40 annually. The levy produces $187,592 in tax revenue per year.
Johnson said the township purchased “a bunch” of road equipment this year.
“We’ll use that equipment for the next 25 years,” he said. “We try to get the most useful life out of our equipment as possible.”
Garrett said by maintaining the township’s equipment, it keeps the township from increasing taxes.
“We’re not for increasing taxes,” he said.
The ballot language for the road levy states, “A renewal of a tax for the benefit of Concord Township, Delaware County, Ohio for the purpose of general construction, reconstruction, resurfacing, and repair of roads and bridges at a rate not exceeding 0.4 mills for each one dollar of valuation, which amounts to $0.04 for each one hundred dollars of valuation, for 5 years, commencing in 2018, first due in the calendar year 2019. A majority affirmative vote is necessary for passage.”
