Madison Township voters split their verdict on Nov. 3, approving an additional levy for the fire department while rejecting a separate levy for the police department, according to final, unofficial results reported by The Columbus Dispatch. The fire levy passed with about 56% in favor and about 44% opposed, while the police levy failed, with about 52% opposed and about 47% in favor, according to the unofficial results from the Franklin County Board of Elections cited by The Dispatch.
The approved fire measure is an additional, continuing levy of 4.89 mills for fire protection and EMS operations, equipment and buildings, The Dispatch reported. Property owners will pay $171 for each $100,000 of the county auditor’s market value. The median home cost in the township is around $271,000, according to Franklin County Auditor’s Office figures cited by The Dispatch.
The rejected police measure was an additional 1.99-mill levy for operations, including salaries, vehicles and communication infrastructure, according to The Dispatch. Had it passed, owners would have paid $70 per $100,000 of value, and it would have collected more than $2.78 million, The Dispatch reported. Its defeat leaves the department without that new revenue.
The department has served the community for more than 50 years, providing fire, rescue and EMS services across about 42 square miles that include Canal Winchester, Groveport and areas of Columbus, Lithopolis, Obetz and Pickerington, according to the township’s official website. It operates three stations and responds to more than 11,000 runs a year. Fire Chief Derek Robinson told The Columbus Dispatch before the election that the department is fully staffed, but calls have risen 4% to 5% annually, and the levy was meant to sustain current service, not expand it, noting the last fire levy was in 2015.
Police Chief Victor Boyd told The Columbus Dispatch before the election that his department faced staffing pressure. It has 18 full-time officers, four short of the level Boyd said it needs, according to The Dispatch. Boyd told The Dispatch that recruitment is difficult because the township competes with neighboring agencies, including the Columbus Division of Police and the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, that pay higher salaries, and equipment costs have risen sharply. “All of those costs have doubled, or nearly doubled” since the last levy, Boyd told The Columbus Dispatch.
For residents, fire and EMS service gains a continuing source of added funding, while police leaders must cover rising costs within existing resources. Both chiefs had framed their requests as efforts to maintain existing services, according to The Dispatch, and Robinson and Boyd could not immediately be reached for comment by The Dispatch after the results were reported.
What happens next is certification. The Franklin County Board of Elections will meet within 21 days to certify the election, according to The Dispatch, and results remain unofficial until then. Once certified, the fire levy will stand as approved for a continuing period, while any future police request would require township officials to decide whether to return to voters.
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