MANSFIELD — Mansfield voters have supported a 1/2-percent income tax for their safety forces for nearly a quarter of a century.
That support will be put to the test again May 2 when a renewal of the four-year issue, first approved in 1998, will be back on the primary ballot.
As a renewal, the proposal would not mean any new taxes for residents.
City Council is expected to vote Jan. 17 on legislation to ask voters to renew a tax that supports the police department, fire department and 9-1-1 dispatch center.
The tax generated $8,877,076 in 2022, according to Finance Director Linn Steward. The tax generates almost one-third of the annual operating funds for Mansfield’s safety forces.
City Council approved a temporary 2023 spending plan that allocated $30.3 million for police, fire and 9-1-1 dispatch.
The rest of the safety forces operating needs come from the city’s general fund and a percentage of the Parks, Recreation, Illumination, Demolitions and Emergency Services (PRIDE) tax, a four-year, quarter-percent income that city voters opted to renew again in 2021.
The PRIDE tax, first approved in 2013 and renewed twice, generates about $3.7 million annually. Half of that money goes to the safety forces (about $1.8 million) with 22 percent designated for parks and recreation, 20 percent for building demolition and eight percent for street lights.
The PRIDE tax was proposed and approved as the city emerged from state-ordered fiscal emergency in 2014, a fiscal crisis that began after the 2009 nationwide recession that devastated city finances.
The safety tax has been popular with city voters in the past.
In the 2019 primary, 68 percent of voters approved it. Final, official vote totals from the the Richland County Board of Elections showed that 2,274 people voted in favor with 1,064 against.
In 2015, it received similar support, passing with 65 percent of the vote total (1,254-675.) It was approved with 67 percent of voter support in 2011 (3,700-1,802).
