A 4-3 Vote Places Tax Levy on Tipp City's May 3rd Ballot

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In a special session of City Council this evening, members of the community and Council members took some time to express their support (or lack thereof) for the measure that would place a new tax levy on the May Ballot. The measure was sponsored by Councilman Kessler and seconded by Councilman Lovett.

The ballot measure has the .25% tax levy for the Parks to expire and become replaced with a .25% income tax going towards Capital expenses. In addition to the replacement levy, a new .25% income tax will be combined with the former, providing approximately $1 million dollars in additional funds each year to fund only capital improvements such as an addition to the Fire/EMS station, a new ladder truck to replace the city’s 35 year old vehicle, and several road repairs including South 3rd St., Dow and Franklin Streets.

Citizen Comments
Council President Pat Hale opened up the council meeting first to comments from residents. Phyllis Hale, a member of the CIP committee approached the dais and explained that while she voted in the affirmative on the CIP recommendation, that she is now disillusioned. She mentioned that prices have gone up for everyone in town and that she would not want to tax anyone right now. She asked whether the City could make a transfer from the General Fund to the Capital fund, Councilman Hale replied, “we could, but have not because we are looking at $12 million in capital improvements and only have $3 million in the bank”
Phyllis Hale asked about the outcome of the Warrior Racing issue and City Manager Crusey told her that Warrior Racing won the suit, but there has been no shared agreement to the attorney fees to be paid. Hale finished her comments by mentioning that tall trees mean a safer community and that she would vote against the levy if it was placed on the ballot.

Mark Mabelitini, former Director of the Tipp City Library and resident stated that he would vote for the levy if it was put on the ballot. He stated that Council should let us (the residents) decided whether we want to invest in our community or not. “I hope and urge you for a unanimous vote for the levy as it demonstrates unity and leadership”

While there were several other residents, business owners and Matt Owen* at the special meeting, none chose to speak on the subject.

Council Comments
Councilman Kessler started off with comments on the levy. “We have pushed these projects out already and have not done any of them, this is not a new list of projects to do, these have been delayed for years”.
Councilman Budding thanked the CIP committee and then also extended his thanks for them “for providing political cover for us”. “I think that there are still wants on the list, as long a there are fireworks, community services, Christmas lights and the Downtown Tipp City Partnership on the budget, we have not cut enough” shared Budding.
Budding continued,”Each of these council members are costing you $10k a year in health care expenses, these costs are passed on to small businesses and makes them less competitive”. Finishing his thoughts Budding stated “Would you rather have Maple Hill Bridge or an empty house next to yours”, relating that some residents may not be able to pay the additional .25% tax and would lose their house over it.

An impassioned response
In a prepared response, Councilman Lovett apologized for his appearance, as he recently returned from the Hospital where he was diagnosed with a kidney stone. The normally dapper Lovett was somber, dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt as he delivered his impassioned comments. Lovett explained his stance on the issue through a story of a woman named Ruth who lives on Hartman Avenue. Prior to the repairs of Hartman, Ruth regularly had her front yard flood with rain and ice over in the winter, making her front yard an “ice rink”. The City “dug deep” and made over $200,000 in cuts to pay for Hartman. The cuts included eliminating the purchase of software and computers for the City employees, asking them again to use the old DOS programs (a very old version of Microsoft Windows) they have used to manage operations since the 80’s. They eliminated every other street project on the schedule to make room for the repairs to Hartman and Horton Avenues. The repairs included fixes to the water and sewer that eliminated the flooding in Ruth’s yard. “This is not fair for the older residents in the older parts of town.. they have poor streets, and the newer developments enjoy better streets”, shared Lovett.
Councilman Lovett also commented that no one today drives a 35 year old vehicle to work, primarily because it would be unsafe AND considered an antique. “Our fire squad drives a 35 year old ladder truck to work each week”. Lovett has stated over the past few months that he is “tired” of gambling with the safety of Tipp City residents with the continued use of antique and unsafe equipment. Lovett closed out with, “The other cities in the region all have a 1.75% tax rate or better, common sense is that we are already cutting corners in comparison to other cities and towns”

When given the opportunity to speak, Councilman Gibson tersely replied “I am with Mr. Budding”.

Councilman Hale was clearly upset by the comments made by Councilman Budding and used the opportunity to clarify a few items, “I did not use the CIP committee to provide political cover, so I don’t know what you are speaking of” shared Hale. “The CIP committee presented a full accounting of the necessary improvements and did so in a package that lasts 10 years, providing NO additional debt to residents at the end of the 10 years (commenting on an erroneous email passed to council members earlier in the day).

Let Residents Choose
Councilman Hale shared, “this is not US asking for more tax money, WE (city council) cannot enact a tax on you (the residents), we are placing this on the ballot to allow residents to choose what type of town they want to live in… Do citizens want to replace their 35 year old fire truck? Do they want to upgrade the Firehouse and EMS squad rooms? Do residents want to repair the neglected roads? (repeating) This (tax levy) lets residents decide what type of town they want to live in”

Councilwomen Black and Gills did not make comments on the measure.

Roll Call
Councilman Hale called the roll, Budding, Gibson and Black voted NO, Gillis, Hale, Lovett and Kessler voted YES, the measure passes and the levy will go on the May 3rd ballot.

*Contacting me after the meeting, Matt Owen shared that he will have official statements from both the Downtown Tipp City Partnership and the Tipp City Chamber regarding the Tax Levy once each Board has voted on it.