The city of Mansfield is proposing a two percent income tax levy, which will earmark funds for safety, parks, demolitions, and street lights.
Voters will have the opportunity to decide whether or not to support the Mansfield City Municipal Levy when it appears on the ballot next month.
City employee and levy committee chair, Mark Abrams, broke down the funding into percentages, noting that if the levy were to pass, 50 percent of the funds would benefit the safety forces, 22 percent would be distributed to the Parks Department, 20 percent would go towards demolitions, and the remaining eight percent would be used for the street lights.
Since the recession hit in 2008, 82 percent of the Street Department personnel have been laid off. “So work gets put off that needs done and slows things down,” Abrams stated.
Additionally, the safety forces are 78 employees short, Abrams reported. Safety forces, he explained, include departments like fire, police, dispatch, and emergency. Fifty percent of the funds earmarked for the safety forces would go towards hiring personnel and the other half would pay for equipment costs.
The Parks Department has one part-time employee who patrols the parks, down from eight employees who used to take care of maintenance.
“There’s at least $195,000 worth of repairs that are needed for the parks,” added Abrams.
The levy would also turn on the 766 street lights that are currently turned off; this number represents 15 percent of the total number of street lights (5,223 lights). Abrams explained that the city currently saves $166,000 by having the 766 lights turned off.
Furthermore, there are about 1500 homes that need to be torn down, but Mansfield currently possesses enough money to do about 100 demolitions.
Abrams discussed that when the levy failed last year, the common concern held by most citizens was that they weren’t comfortable having their money go towards a general fund, not knowing exactly what their money would be used for.
“What we heard back from people dealt mostly with safety concerns,” he said. “And if you look at what the funds go towards, it all ties to safety one way or another.”
The levy would raise the income tax by a quarter percent and would generate $3 million a year, $12 million over a four-year period.
The Mansfield homeowner who earns a $35,000 income would have to pay 24 cents a day.
Abrams noted that the tax does not affect those who are currently on Social Security.
Since the recession hit in 2008, 82 percent of the Street Department personnel have been laid off. “So work gets put off that needs done and slows things down,” Mark Abrams stated.