Safety and Service Remain Top Priorities in 2024 for Norwich Township
Fire Service Central Issue on March Ballot
Norwich Township and Hilliard residents will be asked on the March ballot to consider a 4.9-mill renewal levy for the Norwich Township Fire Department, according to Township Administrator Jamie Fisher.
Township Trustees at their December 18 meeting, the final to be regularly scheduled for the year, approved a resolution placing the issue on the ballot, said Chairman Chuck Buck.
The placement of the ballot issue follows previous executive sessions, or closed meetings, for the purpose of negotiating collective bargaining agreements concerning compensation and other terms and conditions of employment within Norwich Township.
Norwich is slated to open a fourth fire station on 3.5 acres of ground sold to the township for $1 (essentially a partnership donation) within the overall land deal that contains the city’s new Recreation and Wellness campus being developed at Scioto Darby and Alton Darby Creek.
Additional details of the expected impacts of the proposed ballot issue are to be reported when made available.
Fisher indicated Dec. 22 that the administration is preparing financials requested by the Hilliard Beacon but are not expected to be available until early January.
It includes the effective millage of the current fire levies and how much the levy, if approved, will generate per $100,000 of property evaluation.
Norwich voters last considered a fire levy when approving a 4.12- mill levy in 2013.
Voters previously approved a 1-mill levy in 1973, a 2.1-mill levy in 1974, a 1-mill levy in 1976, a 1.9-mill levy in 1978, a 4-mill levy in 1989, and a 6-mill levy in 1998.
But the effective millage rate of each levy is generally reduced each year as property value increases. The reductions are made so as to generate the same amount of revenue each year; otherwise the amount collected each year would increase in proportion to property value increases.
Also at the Dec. 18 meeting, former Hilliard Mayor Roger A. Reynolds administered the oath of office to two new trustees, Rick Tidd and Greg Young, whose terms start Jan. 1.
Young, a retired Norwich assistant fire chief, and Tidd, owner of Tidd Funeral Home, were each elected in November.
Incumbent trustees Tim Roberts and Jerry O’Shaughnessy- an appointee- did not seek election.