Pickerington Area Taxpayers Alliance

There have been suggestions, lately, that the City of Pickerington should secede from Violet Township, in order to ''protect itself.'' Would this be a good idea? Is it worth all the trouble it would take?

Although this matter is not entirely free from doubt, let's assume, for present, that such an action would be legal under the Ohio Revised Code. What would its consequences be? What ''protection'' would it provide?

Let's put one matter to rest: the township does not, and indeed cannot, charge city residents more than township residents for the services the township provides. All residents of the township, including those who live in the city, pay taxes at the same rate for township services. So there is no need to provide the city ''protection'' from that sort of discrimination.

I suppose the township could, in theory, provide township residents who happen to live in the city a lower quality of service. But that certainly has not happened here and, if it did, such township residents, if they worked at it, could vote the offending township trustees out of office. All they really would need to do is turn out at the polls in high numbers.

The principal service the township provides if fire protection. There has been some suggestion that the fire station downtown is somehow inferior to the fire station on Refugee Road. Bear in mind, however, that both fire stations serve the city. The Refugee Road station, in fact, is located right across the street from the city. It also serves the stores and strip centers on U.S. 256, right to the Reynoldsburg line, all of which is in the city. Likewise, the station downtown serves the southern unincorporated section of the township. So let's forget about that.

The primary effect of the city's secession is that the city would have to establish its own, separate fire department. There is no reason to believe that such a fire department would provide better service, and there is nothing wrong with the service the township now provides.

Could the city provide such service at a lower cost? I don't think so. To begin, the city would have to build its own fire stations and buy its own fire equipment. Under Ohio law, I do not believe that ownship of either of the township's fire stations, or the fire equipment they contain, would pass to the city as a result of secession.

The city would need two new fire stations to serve the city as well as the township is doing now. It also would need fire trucks. Have you ever priced one of these? I have. They cost several hundred thousand dollars each. A big hook and ladded could cost over a million dollars.

So we would have four fire stations, with equipment and firefighters, to serve an area that is now served quite effectively by two stations. Clearly, there are no cost savings here. Indeed, the seceded city could not afford such an investment.

I suppose the city could contract with the township for fire service, if the township was willing. But if that is the outcome, then what would secession accomplish?

Continued

What else would secession accomplish? There are fears that the city may become landlocked, with all surrounding township land being annexed by other neighboring municipalities. I suppose this could happen. But seceding from the township would not enhance, in the least, the city's ability to prevent it.

Township lands are open to annexation by contiguous municipalities. The only sure way to prevent such municipalities from annexing land in our township would be for the city to merge with the township. But, we are told by the posters on this site, no one wants to do that.

Secession likewise would give the city no more access to land outside its boundaries for commercial development than it has at present. The city can only annex contiguous land, and the best commercial land is not contiguous. Moreover, annexation even of non-contiguous land requires the consent, or the affirmative vote, of the landowners.

The only sure solutions to these problems are a joint development agreement with Violet Township or, once again, a merger with the township. But, once again, according to you bloggers, no one wants to do either of these things.

Concern has been expressed that township residents are able to use city road which have been improved at city taxpayer expense without paying anything for the privilege. Secession likewise would not solve this problem. Township residents would still be able to drive unimpaired on U.S. 256 and Diley Road.

The only sure solutions to these problems would be to install toll gates at the city lines or, once again, for the city to absorb the township through merger. The toll gates clearly would create more misery than relief for city residents. Once again, the only sure solution to this problem is merger and, once again, no one wants to do that.

All things considered, secession seems to me a very bad, and a very poorly thought out, idea. I do not wish to ridicule those who thought it up, since they are friends of mine. But I would urge them to take a good, long second look at the idea.

Accounting needed

City residents pay for the fire service via property taxes. As a city resident I'm not really interested in creating a new fire department. But I'd like to know for all the property taxes I pay, who gets what share. No problem, violet fire is a great organization. What other tax dollars go to the township and exactly what service are they providing? It would free up dollars to pay additional school taxes if I could stop paying violet for services rendered to others.

By Last of the Big Spenders

Good idea

That's a good idea. I don't know whether the township publishes its annual budget on its web site, but tax millage information is available in great detail on the web site of the Fairfield County Auditor. It would be even better, however, if someone from the township government could put it all together for us on this web site. My sense is that the township is pretty frugal, but it would be a good idea to put this one to rest with some numbers.