Dear Elyrians and Elyria Stakeholders,
·
Maintain
65 front-line firefighters – just enough to meet national safety
standards and state auditor recommendations;
·
Sustain
a police force of 93, including eight new sworn officers to
improve neighborhood safety and address speeding and traffic concerns;
·
Provide
a small recruitment incentive stipend to Auxiliary Police to
enhance safety (at present they get paid nothing);
·
Fund
safety-related equipment, vehicles and capital repairs and
emergency road and bridge repairs;
·
Support
Police Department crime prevention initiatives including training programs and materials, and
surveillance cameras for downtown;
·
Support
a Reverse 911 System.
Since taking office almost three years ago, my
administration and I have been working with Elyria City Council and caring
citizens like you to better position Elyria for a brighter future. At the top of the agenda has been finding
ways to provide high quality city services at a time when revenue continues to
decline. The repeal of the Estate Tax, a
decline in the Local Government Fund from the State of Ohio, and the expiration
stimulus funds the City has been relying on to fund firefighter and police
officer positions – are all reasons for the revenue decline. Combined,
these reductions represent about $4.45 million annually in the City’s General
Fund.
To address this shortfall and keep the City moving
forward, we have taken the following proactive steps:
·
Requested a Voluntary Performance Audit by the State Auditor of every
department in the City;
·
Made
workplace adjustments that have resulted in over $2 million in savings so
far (In both General Fund and Enterprise
Funds);
·
Passed
a five-year income tax RENEWAL to help stabilize core
services.
·
Developed
the City’s first Economic Development Plan to retain, expand
and attract businesses and grow our tax base.
The Plan is already partially funded with federal, state and other
grants.
The next step in the financial stabilization process is
to pass a small, temporary income tax increase to partially offset the lost stimulus funding ($2.45 million annually)
for the fire and police departments and the lost state funding ($2 million
annually) that was helping to pay for important safety service-related
programs, equipment and repairs. Without passage of this small, temporary
increase, the City of Elyria will be forced to reduce the equivalent of 32
positions – a necessary move to balance the budget that will impact
personnel in every department across the City and have a drastic, negative
impact on quality of life services to our citizens.
BOTH the recently passed temporary ½ percent income tax
renewal and this proposed temporary income tax increase will expire at the same
time in June of 2019. This will allow
the citizens of Elyria, City Council and the City administration to assess the
needs of the City at that time and re-calibrate the funding sources based on ever-changing
state and federal revenue streams and the state of the local economy.
Right now things can go one of two ways for Elyria: good
or bad. Passage of this issue will help
keep the positive momentum going and KEEP ELYRIA SAFE and moving in the right
direction. To that end, we hope you
will become informed about the need for this issue and share this important
information with others.
If you would like to learn more or get involved with the Elyrians First Committee promoting the campaign, please visit them at facebook.com/elyriansfirst. Or you can call, (440) 371-2285. Thank you in advance for your consideration.
If you would like to learn more or get involved with the Elyrians First Committee promoting the campaign, please visit them at facebook.com/elyriansfirst. Or you can call, (440) 371-2285. Thank you in advance for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Holly
C. Brinda
Mayor
