By Brian Massie, A Watchman on the Wall and Concord Resident
Press Release:
Concord Township places a 3.9 mil Fire Levy on the November 5, 2024 ballot
Andy Rose, Concord Administrator
To address a significant short fall in the safety services budget, Concord Township Trustees voted for a new Fire Operations Levy. The levy on the ballot for November 5, 2024, is a responsible 3.9 mill levy ($137.00 per $100k taxable property value) that will support fire operations and allow for the adequate funding of police protection. The levy the Trustees approved is strictly for operations is an amount adequate to support the fire department budget for up to the next 5 years, the term of the levy. The Trustees are acting in good faith to ensure strong financial health for the future of the Township’s safety services and Township community. The budget for safety services in Concord has operated 9 years without an increase.
“The Trustees have reevaluated the needs of the Township. The Administrator’s Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) conducted a thorough evaluation of the
Township’s budget, finances and needs of our safety services to fully service a
community of this size.” said Trustee Carl Dondorfer. Trustee Dondorfer continued
by saying, “One of the most important aspects of public safety is personnel and the
ability to recruit and retain personnel. I am a big believer that safety services are a
major component to the health and vitality of a community.”
“The CAC provided fresh eyes and their perspective on the current situation. We
are accepting their recommendation. Three quarters of our safety services budget is
directly related to salaries so when we talk about supporting safety services, we are
talking about human capital. We are talking about contracted deputies and fire
fighter personnel. We have worked hard to look for other funding opportunities to
support the overall Township.” Said Trustee Morgan McIntosh
Trustee Amy Lucci stated “Our current funding does not provide enough to sustain
our safety service (Fire and Police) operations with our current funding mechanisms.
These funds are necessary and are going for a specific purpose.” Trustee Lucci
continued “I encourage residents to take the time to educate themselves on the
Township’s needs and tax allocations”.
Operational costs continue to increase which necessitates the levy being placed on the ballot for consideration. The cost of attracting and retaining EMS/Fire personnel and law enforcement officers has increased significantly in recent years. Inflation has driven up the cost of the capital needs of the fire department seeing increases of 40 to 60%. Concord Township contracts policing services with the Lake County Sheriff’s Department (LCSO), who have also experienced significant cost increases
in recent years, affecting the cost of the policing contract.
Residents are encouraged to ask questions to gain a strong understanding of the Township’s needs related to supporting strong and necessary safety services within the Township.
If the levy passes, the Township will have the funds available to maintain the Fire Department full strength along with acquiring needed equipment and will also allow for the funding of ten (10) deputies to provide police protection.
Lobbyists for Citizens asked the Concord Administrator, Andy Rose, a series of questions related to their press release announcing the 3.9 mill property tax levy. We thank Mr. Rose for always being transparent and timely with his responses to our questions.
Question: Can you please send me the 5 year financial projection that we talked about?
Answer:
Question: Can you confirm that the Township plans to have 10 new sheriff’s deputies up from the current 2 deputies?
Answer: The plan is to increase the contract for deputies from a current level of six (6) to ten (10). This will allow for two (2) deputies to be on patrol in Concord 24/7.
Question: Also, please confirm that the $1.2 million annually from the following additional sources of revenue:
Question: $200,000 from the RID:
Answer: RIDs broken down by each development. Villas of Canterwood is approx. $200K and Ivy Ridge is approx. $300K. I will remind you that these are restricted funds for infrastructure listed in the RID resolution. In addition to RID funds being statutorily restricted to infrastructure, please remember, these developments take time and the collection of these funds will incrementally add to the township budget, slow at first, then to full maturity, then an incremental decline, eventually reaching zero.
Question: $400,000 from the Local Government Funds:
Answer: LGF distribution for next year (2025) is estimated at $471,371.00. The 2024 distribution is estimated at $165,000.00 (we have not received second half yet) so the potential increase is approximately $306,371.00 We have no assurance or indication that the LGF from the state will continue as it is today past 2025. As you are aware, the LGF was reduced 30% during the Kasich administration. With talk about additional tax cuts at the state level, Concord can only anticipate the LGF will perform as the ad-hoc committee projected. There is no certainty in the projections that came out of the work from the ad-hoc committee.
Question: $600,000 from the inside millage due to the sexennial revaluation:
Answer: This has yet to be determined. There are several factors in play as the Riverside and Mentor side have different amounts and we will wait until the appeals process for individual owners is complete before committing to a number. Your number is an estimated amount, of which, 53% (1.6 mils) is allocated to the Service Department road fund and 47% (1.4 mils) to the general fund.
[LFC ADD: This number is readily available from the Auditor’s office. The Auditor confirmed for the Commissioners that they will receive $1.7 million in 2025 from the 2024 revaluation. This number was needed to determine any shortfall in financing for the new $200 – $205 million Lake County jail.]
Question: The press release does not give the annual revenue from the 3.9 mill levy.
Answer: Auditor’s certificate indicates annual revenue from the 3.9 mil levy would be $3,284,000.00.
[LFC ADD: This means a 67.1% increase in funding ($3,284,000 / $4,888,618)] [Why was the estimate of $3,139,500 used in the financial projections?]
Question: Also, what funds are going to be used to pay for the new Prouty Road fire station?
Answer: We will likely utilize a combination of RID dollars and JEDD funds as was originally presented in 2019 and again in 2020. We are also working on a Federal Grant that we hope to be successful in obtaining some funds for FS2. The RID funds and Federal Grant will help offset the impact of inflation on the project since the delay in securing funding in 2019.
Question: What new police and fire capital purchases are anticipated?
Answer: No capital purchase for police services…that is a contract with the LC Sheriff. Major purchases for Fire include ambulances, fire engines, SCBA breathing gear, radios, heart monitors, and steadily increasing costs of dispatching services particularly with the coming implementation of NextGen 911 which is expected to be substantially more costly.
Question: How much is the anticipated cost to update/build the new Township hall?
Answer: There WILL NOT be a “new Town Hall”. There is a concept on paper from a study conducted in 2020 to construct an addition to the existing building for additional space. The July 2020 estimate was $1 million. There are no plans to construct a new townhall. We explored the idea at the request of Rep. Calendar who at one time had considered seeking state funding for an expansion.
Note to our Concord Township readers: We will endeavor to obtain and review all of the Concord fund balances. We also plan to review all Lake County property tax levies that will appear on the November 5th ballot.
Here is our 30 second commercial on property taxes:
Categories: Concord, Lake County Cities & Townships, Uncategorized