‘A heck of a bargain’: Resident wants different pitch for Madison Twp. road & fire levies

MADISON TOWNSHIP — Miles Hoehn said Monday evening he supports Madison Township road and fire levies on the Nov. 3 ballot.

The former township trustee said current trustees just need to do a better job of educating and convincing voters the proposed tax increases represent a bargain for residents.

“If you guys present to the taxpayers exactly what you said (during a trustees’ meeting Monday night), you got a snowball’s chance in hell to pass (the levies),” Hoehn said during public participation.

His suggestion was to provide residents with specific, per-residence numbers on what they would pay per day for better roads and fire/EMS services, rather than relying on the more standard annual costs for a $100,000 property.

Trustees are asking in November that township voters approve additional five-year property tax levies of 4 mills for roads and 2.5 mills for the fire department.

The road levy, which would be used in a resurfacing program for the township’s 70 miles of roads, would generate $868,345 each year, according to the Richland County Auditor’s Office. It would cost the owner of a $100,000 home about $140 annually.

The fire levy, which would fund fire department operations, will generate $542,715 each year, according to the auditor’s office. It would cost the owner of a $100,000 home about $88 annually.

Those were the numbers trustees cited when they put the levies on the ballot. Hoehn suggested a different way of explaining them.

“It’s like the old political saying, ‘It’s the economy, stupid.’ They don’t want to hear about, ‘Oh, we, we need to pave a little bit more of Stewart Road or a little bit more of that road.’ They want to know what’s it gonna cost (them),” Hoehn said.

“Don’t talk about mills because nobody understands mills. Talk about dollars, OK? What’s it going to cost me in dollars? We say (for a $100,000 home), it’s going to cost you this much. That’s about as lazy as you can get,” he said.

He handed trustees a spreadsheet he compiled that showed the property tax increase impact on individual residences, including his own, based on data from the Richland County Auditor’s website.

“For me, to pass the fire levy, it’s going to cost me 41 cents a day. What do I get for that? I get 24/7, 365 (days a year) emergency response for fire protection. I get 24/7, 365 (days a year) emergency response for medical services.

“If you have to be transported, you’re not going to pay something extra on top of that if you live in Madison Township. You get free blood pressure checks if you just stop by the station.

“That’s a heck of a bargain for 41 cents a day. You guys should be talking in the paper, on the radio, on TV, explaining things. Older people (need to know they) can get emergency care at (their) house and be transported to the hospital for 41 cents a day,” Hoehn said.

He also cited the benefits of the road levy.

“You get the ability for the township to pave more roads. You’re going to get less tar and chip, although there will be some. More and better sealing of the roads to make them last longer.

“It’ll actually improve gas mileage, too, because going on a smooth road uses less gas than dodging potholes in the roads. So what’s it going to cost? The road levy at 4 mills is going to cost me $1.06 a day,” Hoehn said.

Trustees thanked Hoehn for his suggestion, but said residents can find similar information on the county auditor’s website once it’s posted. They focused their comments on the benefits to residents the levies would provide.

Trustee Dan Fletcher said current road taxes have only allowed the township to repave 50 miles of roads in the last 14 years.

“If anybody knows anything about anything, paving just doesn’t last that long. We’ve paved 50 miles of road and and we’ve (already) got roads that need paved again,” Fletcher said.

“Some are still in decent shape, but the ones that are some of the heavier traveled roads, are showing signs (that they need repaving). With this new money, instead of 3.5 miles of road (paving) a year, we’ll be able to pay … I’ve got it figured at seven miles a year,” he said.

“And then in 10 years (assuming the levy is approved and then renewed in five years), you can start back over,” Fletcher said.

“We won’t need our crews to (frequently) patch roads. We’ll hire professionals to put it down right,” he said.

He said more road striping can be done, certain roads can be milled down and resurfaced and failed road culverts can be more easily replaced.

“We have paved 5.9 miles of roads in the past two years. That just ain’t going to get it,” Fletcher said.

The other levy would fund operations in the fire department, which has an acting chief, an administrative assistant, 15 full-time firefighters and around 13 part-time firefighters. Fletcher said in July the number of part-time firefighters fluctuates and could be as high as 25.

Township voters approved in 2025 the renewal of a 4-mill levy first approved in 2005. In the years since the levy passed, the effective millage of that tax has dropped significantly. While it is listed as a 4-mill levy, it only collects about 2.5 mills on residential and agricultural properties and 3.3 mills on commercial and industrial properties.

Madison Township Fire Dept. Capt. Wes Green, who has been with the department for 30 years, said he understands some residents oppose property taxes, especially requests for increases.

“But we have no other tax other than property tax. We don’t have income or sales (taxes) or (a) permissive (tax) or anything else. That’s the only thing we have.,” Green said. “I know property tax is not well liked right now and I completely understand. But I hope this is the smallest amount possible to keep us going.”

He said full-time firefighters in the township start at around $20.68 per hour and top out at $25 per hour. Part-timers make between $11 to $15.50 per hour. Trustees accepted the resignation of a part-timer on Monday night who left to join the Mansfield Fire Department.

The department responds to about 3,000 calls for service annually, according to Green.

“(Those wages) might sound great. But in the fire (services) world it’s not,” Green said. “That’s probably one of the lower ones in Richland County, I would say. And if you leave Richland County, it’s a whole different world.”

He said the township fire department contractually has to have four full-time firefighters on duty at all times, manning two different stations, protecting a township of around 11,000 residents. He said all full-time firefighters in the department are also paramedics.

“(Four full-time firefighters on duty) is the contractual minimum. Maybe six is our max with those other two part-timers. But that’s hit and miss if they’re working or not working. Those aren’t guaranteed positions,” Green said.

“The positions are available, but it’s not guaranteed somebody can work that.”

The fire captain said he is simply trying to keep the township fire department operating.

“I’m not planning long-term. I’m just trying to keep us going. All the problems that are happening at your house and my house at home is happening to us, too. We own two homes, our gas bills are going up, our electric bills are going up (and) our fuel costs are going up,” Green said.