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London Council votes 5-2 to put levy on May ballot
(by Kristy Zurbrick, Madison Editor - February 07, 2010)
In a 5-2 vote on Feb. 4, London City Council took the final step to put a 0.5 percent income tax increase on the May 4 ballot.
Councilmen Jim Boyd and Rodney Lauer cast the “no” votes, each for different reasons.
Boyd, who started his term on council in January, said the timing is wrong. He suggested that council postpone the levy request until later this year to allow more time to put together a levy campaign.
“It’s been a steam roller without any direction,” Boyd said.
Lauer reiterated his concern that none of the levy money would be set aside for capital improvements, like street repairs and sidewalk installation. If the levy passes, revenues will be split evenly between the police and fire departments.
Councilman Stan Kavy disagreed with Boyd and Lauer, first saying a campaign committee is in place and ready to go.
“I feel comfortable with the timing,” he said. “And, for our safety services, timing is very important.”
As for Lauer’s concern, Kavy said that with a 0.5 percent tax in place strictly for police and fire, the 1 percent income tax already on the city’s books could be tapped for capital improvements.
Councilman Dick Minner voted in favor of placing the 0.5 percent income tax levy on the ballot, but wondered if it would generate enough money.
“Will we be back again in two years asking for more?” he said.
Kavy, Minner, John Dixon, Steve Scaggs and John Stahl voted in favor of putting the levy on the May ballot. It is the same request the city attempted in the November 2009 election. As such, it includes a tax credit of up to 0.5 percent for London residents who work outside the city and pay taxes to another municipality.
Safe Routes To School
In other council business, Lauer talked about Safe Routes To School, a federal government program designed to improve safety and encourage more children to safely walk and bicycle to school. City, school and county leaders have teamed up to pursue possible funding through the program. Part of the process is to create a comprehensive school travel plan for the community.
The impetus behind the group effort is London City Schools’ need for a sidewalk from the county fairgrounds entrance on Elm Street to the south edge of the new middle school site on the west side of Elm Street.
A core Safe Routes To School planning group has already met once. Their job is to write the school travel plan to submit to the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT), which administers the federal funding. Among the group’s members are Lauer, London Safety-Services Director Stephen Hume, London City Schools Superintendent Steve Allen and Madison County Engineer David Brand. The group’s next meeting is at 1:30 p.m. March 3 in council chambers on East Second Street.
In the meantime, city council’s service committee was scheduled to meet Feb. 11 to talk about the sidewalk project. Lauer has sponsored legislation to appropriate funds for engineering for the project. Council has not yet voted on it.
A larger Safe Routes To School committee, which will include anyone with a stake in getting children safely to school in London, will meet for the first time at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 22 in city council chambers to develop the school travel plan.
Lauer said he will try to arrange for representatives from the Ohio Department of Transportation to attend one or more of the local meetings to explain how the program’s funding works.
Additionally, Lauer will attend a seminar on Safe Routes To School sponsored by the Mid Ohio Regional Planning Commission on Feb. 23. Madison County Engineer David Brand will take part in a webinar about the program on Feb. 24.
A town hall meeting for public input is tentatively scheduled for mid-March at London High School.
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