Wadsworth residents will not be voting in November on a 1.1-mill renewal levy to help fund capital purchases for the Wadsworth Fire Department.
At Tuesday night’s meeting of Wadsworth City Council, members (with Councilman Bob Thurber absent) voted 6-0 against a measure that would have allowed the city to place an issue on the ballot that would have exceeded the 10-mill limitation the city has under state law. The mainly procedural measure would have opened the door to place the fire levy on the ballot.
The Medina County Board of Elections deadline to place the issue on the ballot is Wednesday, Aug. 5, so Wadsworth City Council needed to act at Tuesday’s meeting.
So why did council members vote no?
“There was not 100-percent support from Council and when you don’t have 100-percent support, to me, I think it sends a mixed message to the community. To me, I think the citizens deserve a unanimous decision. And so for that reason, I believe that’s why the legislation was pulled,” said Wadsworth Mayor Robin Laubaugh.
The mayor believes some council members had concerns about the “healthy” cash balances in the two funds the levy money goes into. It was projected that Fund 437, which pays for vehicle and equipment replacement, would have a cash balance of $2.9 million at the end of 2015. Fund 438, which sets aside funds for a potential satellite fire station in the future, would have a balance of $1.2 million at the end of the year.
“It’s not going to jeopardize anything in the near future, this was basically for our long-term planning,” said the mayor.
Because the fire levy was continuous, the state of Ohio contributed $50,000 annually to the levy proceeds. The mayor says because the levy will expire, that state money will disappear because Wadsworth was grandfathered into a special fund.
