Pickerington Area Taxpayers Alliance

What auditor site says

First the effective rate of the Pickerington police levy is around 3.9 mills. Voted Millage is 5.5 MIlls. It will probably go down once the new property valuation comes in for 2007. The police department is supported by the Pickerington income tax also.

The Road and Bridge levy in the township is 1.7 millages. The trustees raised the Tax last year and no one noticed.

All residents of Violet Township pays a .6 Mill ''administration levy''.

The fire levy which all (city and unicoprorated) residents pay has an effect rate of 7.02 Mills. Voted rate was 11.55 mills.

The city residents pay a 2.3 inside millage for city services.

Instead pulling these number out of your butt please read the auditor's site.

You were doing so good

Thanks for the auditors numbers! You'd think with such a great factual posting like that you'd not be afraid to leave your name.

You were doing so good until you threw in the last sentence. I'm glad you remained ananymous so you can still remain the ass that you are.

By Anonymous like you

Time for Change is coming

One of the majority problems that we have faced here in the city has been growth especially residential growth. All growth costs the existing tax payer's money for needed infrastructure to create these developments. Commercial developments do not come free as some would like you to believe.

Home Rule cities have many more options available to them in how they pay for services. I believe I saw a posting about the Mifflin and Clinton Township fire departments merging. In most case cities that annex and have a township providing the fire service soon realize the heavy burden that is placed on the property owners of the city. If you honestly look at central Ohio you will find many of the cities near here that found themselves boxed in like Pickerington and you will find that they all have went to a paper township and created their own fire department. They shifted the tax burden over to income tax and increased their income tax to 2%.

I will bet that very soon you will see Reynoldsburg shift their property taxes for the Thruo Fire Department and create a paper township up there soon. They have failed to pass an income tax increase to hire 11 police officers. They are going to need to get a bigger carrot. The one cost the City of Reynoldsburg can't control or over see is the fire department.

The City of Pickerington is in the same boat. I will tell you that the Violet Fire Department does a very good job. fortunately I have never had to call them for myself or family. I have called them for neighbors and they were very responsive. With that said if I could reduce my property taxes I would be very willing to try a new fire department.

Like any new idea it takes time to sink in. I think the idea has been here for a while but no one had the courage to speak openly about it. I am beginning to hear the whispers of change occurring here in Pickerington. It appears that those in office are either intimidated or not willing to look into the idea for fear of offending someone. I believe it will take an effort with a series of initiatives to place the city in a position to create a paper township and to create a Pickerington Fire Department.

Our group meets next Saturday and the motivational speaker is Councilman Fix. The location is yet to be determined because most sites are carpeted and you can't get the eggs and rotten tomatoes cleaned up very well after the event.

Lower Taxes?

Please tell me how the city's creation of its own fire department will lower the cost of fire protection for city residents? As Robbie the Robot used to say in the SciFi classic ''Forbidden Planet,'' that does not compute.

Remember, the city would need to build two new fire stations, and equip and staff both of them. Right now, the entire township, city included, is served quite well by two stations, and the cost of those two stations, equipment and staff included, is spread among all township taxpayers, including those within and those without the city.