By Laura Arenschield
The Columbus Dispatch
DELAWARE COUNTY, Ohio — Fire levies on the ballot this fall have divided voters in two communities in southern Delaware County, forcing residents to decide just how much they are willing to pay for fire and emergency medical protection.
“Instead of our township government considering ways to cut spending, instead of looking at ways to reduce waste, they decided to stick it to the voters,” said Melanie Leneghan, a Liberty Township trustee. “It’s a lot easier to continue to do things the same way rather than getting your hands dirty and looking for opportunities to be more efficient and save.”
Liberty Township has a five-year, 6.6-mill levy on the ballot, which would cost taxpayers about $200 for every $100,000 of a home’s value annually. Liberty’s last fire levy, approved more than a decade ago, was for 6 mills and expires in December.
Liberty Fire Chief Tim Jensen said the increase is necessary. The fire department has expanded as the township has grown and needs more money to continue providing the same or better level of service, he said. The township’s population grew by about 66 percent since the 2000 census, from about 15,400 people to about 25,600.
Jensen said the levy’s failure could mean firefighters lose their jobs or fire stations get shut down, something he said would be a blow to Liberty Township and Powell.
“You chose to live in this community for a certain sense of community, and you were looking for a quality of lifestyle,” he said.
Orange Township’s levy, for 7.8 mills, would cost taxpayers almost $240 a year per $100,000 of a home’s value. The levy would be good for three years. The current levy, for 5 mills, costs taxpayers about $150 a year per $100,000.
Assistant Orange Township Fire Chief Matt Noble said at a forum last week that the money would pay for firefighters’ salaries, utilities and building maintenance. Noble said the township is growing at a rate faster than what the current fire levy can handle. Orange Township’s population almost doubled from the 2000 census to the 2010 census -- from about 12,400 people to about 23,800.
But Orange Township resident Bob Ruhlman called the 7.8-mill levy “a money grab.”
“A lower tax levy alternative was absolutely a possibility but was never considered,” Ruhlman said.
He also questioned some of the townships’ other expenditures -- roundabouts on streets and a proposed community center -- and said money for those things could easily have been spent on the fire department, reducing the amount of the levy on the ballot this year.
“I don’t want anybody to lose their job,” Ruhlman said. “I just want to pay for what’s fair.”
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