The North Royalton City Council has approved a resolution that will place a five-year EMS levy on the November ballot.  This comes after they weighed two options to either place a renewal of the current levy, or place a renewal plus an increased tax.
The levy will take the place of the existing 1.7 mill levy, which expires in 2027.  The levy will continue to help pay for the EMS program, which helps to fund the salaries of the City’s firefighters/paramedics, equipment and operation of that part of the Fire Department.  The deadline for placing the measure on the November 3 ballot is August 5, according to the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections.
The current five-year, 1.7 mill EMS levy will replace the previous 1.7 mill levy which expired at the end of 2022.   Since that levy was a replacement levy, the City collected more taxes, as it was a replacement, rather than a renewal.  Since that time, the State of Ohio has removed the option of a replacement levy, offering municipalities the option of renewals or renewals with an increase.
The levy was started in the late 1980s, when the North Royalton Fire Department was expanding their department to include Emergency Management Services (EMS).  This EMS levy was first established in 1989 at 1.2 mills.  A new 1.7 mill levy was passed in 1993 and had been renewed every five years until 2017, at which time it was replaced.
Two pieces of legislation were introduced by Mayor Paul Marnecheck at the May 19 City Council meeting.  This was the first step necessary to place the measure on the November ballot. Both pieces of legislation were resolutions of necessity, first part of a two-step process necessary to place a levy issue on the ballot.  Both pieces of legislation were unanimously adopted.  The first would levy a renewal with increase tax. The second would levy a renewal.  The first would be a 1.7 mill levy, with an addition of 0.30 mills, totaling 2.0 mills.  The second resolution would levy a 1.7 mill levy renewal only.
The second step was to introduce a resolution to proceed to the election.  Two pieces of legislation were introduced by Mayor Paul Marnecheck at the June 16 City Council meeting.  Council unanimously adopted the resolution to proceed on the question of a renewal tax with an increase, which totals 2.0 mills.  The second resolution, that would only renew the 1.7 mills, was withdrawn.
The form on the ballot shall be substantially as follows:
“A renewal of 1.70 mills and an increase of 0.30 mills for each $1 of taxable value to constitute a tax for the benefit of the City of North Royalton, for the purpose of providing emergency medical service, that the county auditor estimates will collect $2,271,883 annually, at a rate not exceeding 2.00 mills for each $1 of taxable value, which amounts to $57 for each $100,000 of the county auditor’s market value, for five years, commencing in 2027, first due in calendar year 2028.”
According to North Royalton Finance Director Jenny Esarey, the current 1.7 mill levy generates $1,864,339.00. If the levy issue passes, it will be collected starting in 2028.  The Cuyahoga County Fiscal Officer has certified that the amount of revenue that would be generated would be about $2,271,883.00.  If the measure passes in November, homeowners would pay $57 annually for every $100,000 of home valuation. The City also has a Fire Levy and a Police Levy, which are both perpetual levies.

By GLORIA PLEVA KACIK
Contributing Writer