Fire, EMS Levies to Appear on March Ballot

When the original levies were first put on the books in the 1980s, tax payers were paying roughly $18 per year for the services, said City Council President Jon Snyder. But under the present system, and with the amount the levies are devaluated each year, they're paying around $3 to $4. 

In order to stay financially balanced in the year's to come, city council voted Monday night to put replacement levies for both departments on the March ballot. If passed, they will cost tax payers an additional $18 per year, Snyder said. 

"The EMS levy is 1-mill but right now it's yielding less than half-a-mill," Snyder said. "The fire levy was a half-mill and it's yielding less than .3 percent. In preparing the 2012 budget for fire and EMS, I noticed we were short about $225,000 to operate those departments."

If the levies don't pass, money will be taken from the general fund to make up the deficit, Snyder said. Combined, the levies will generate roughly $386,000. 

"The service we provide is high quality," Snyder said. "The levies will give us a little over $200,000 of new money which will bring us into balance without having to subsidize from the general fund, which is a good thing."