The North Royalton City Council adopted legislation at its January 18 City Council meeting that is the first step in placing an EMS Levy on the May 3 ballot. Fire Chief Bob Chegan gave a presentation on the proposed replacement to Council at its January 18 Safety Committee meeting, which took place before the Council meeting that evening.
The resolution was unanimously adopted that declares the necessity of replacement of the current 1.7 mill tax levy for EMS services. This is the first step of a two-step process that could place the measure on the May 3 ballot. A second piece of legislation is expected to be introduced at the Council meeting on February 1. Council would need to adopt that legislation in order to place it on May’s ballot, as the expiration to file ballot issues for that election is February 2 at 4 p.m.
The five-year, $1.7 mill EMS levy would replace the current $1.7 mill levy which expires at the end of 2022. If passed, the new levy will then take the place of the old levy. The new levy will raise taxes, as it will be a replacement, rather than a renewal. This will be the second time that this issue would be on the ballot. The levy continues to help pay for the program, helping to fund the salaries of the City’s 30 firefighters/paramedics, equipment and operation of that part of the Fire Department
The levy was started in the late 1980s, when the North Royalton Fire Department was expanding their department to include Emergency Management Services (EMS). The original millage was passed by voters at $1.2 mills. The levy was renewed in 2002, began collection in 2003, and expired in 2008. At that point, voters were asked to pass a replacement levy at $1.7 mills, which started collection in 2009. North Royalton voters passed the levy in 2013, which was a renewal. They then passed a replacement levy in 2018.
According to the resolution that was adopted at the January 18 meeting, “in order to place the question of the replacement levy on the ballot, it is necessary for Council to request the Cuyahoga County Fiscal Officer to certify, in accordance with Section 5705.03 of the Revised Code, the total current tax valuation of the City of North Royalton and the dollar amount of revenue that would be generated by the replacement in its entirety of its existing 1.7 mill levy for the purpose of providing emergency medical service which expires with the levy made on the 2021 tax list and duplicate, to be collected in 2022.”
By GLORIA PLEVA KACIK
Contributing Writer