Voters in three Cuyahoga County communities approved fire and emergency medical services tax levies in Tuesday’s general election, according to unofficial results from the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections reported by cleveland.com. Strongsville, North Royalton and Olmsted Falls each backed their fire and EMS measures, cleveland.com reported, in results that remain unofficial until the board of elections certifies them.
Strongsville voters approved Issue 103, a new 1-mill continuing levy for fire and emergency medical services, with 56.07 percent of the vote and all 33 precincts reporting, according to cleveland.com’s report of the board’s unofficial results. The levy is expected to generate about $2.3 million a year and cost the owner of a $100,000 home about $35 annually, cleveland.com reported. As a continuing levy, it has no set expiration date.
The City of Strongsville’s own election information page says Issue 103 is an operating levy to hire new firefighter-paramedics to bolster staffing throughout the city, including at a new fire station being built on Royalton Road near Pearl Road, with a focus on improving response times — and that levy money will not be used to pay for construction of the new station. Cleveland.com reported the city plans to hire 12 additional firefighter-paramedics, and that the station itself is being built for about $9.6 million.
North Royalton voters approved Issue 57 with 55.68 percent of the vote and all 23 precincts reporting, according to cleveland.com. The measure renews the city’s existing 1.7-mill EMS levy and adds 0.3 mill, creating a 2-mill levy for five years beginning with tax year 2027, with collections starting in 2028. It is expected to generate about $2.27 million a year and cost about $57 a year per $100,000 of home value, figures also carried in EMS1’s election funding roundup and in the ballot language reported by the Royalton Recorder.
North Royalton’s approved levy replaces the five-year, 1.7-mill levy voters passed in May 2022. A straight renewal was projected to raise about $1.86 million a year; the renewal-plus-increase voters chose is expected to bring in roughly $410,000 more annually as EMS costs climb. Earlier cleveland.com reporting said the increase would allow the city to hire three more firefighter-paramedics.
Olmsted Falls voters approved Issue 70, a fire levy renewal, with 60.44 percent of the vote and all eight precincts reporting, according to cleveland.com — while overwhelmingly rejecting a separate proposal to raise the city’s municipal income tax from 1.5 percent to 2 percent. "The people spoke, and the people spoke very loudly," Olmsted Falls Mayor Chad Gluss told cleveland.com. "We understand, and we will do what we can do with the budget we have."
All three results are unofficial until the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections completes its official canvass and certifies them, which is the next step for each levy. Collections will then follow each measure’s terms — in North Royalton, the renewed and increased levy begins with tax year 2027 and is first due in 2028, while Strongsville’s continuing levy will fund fire and EMS operations and the added staffing city officials described to voters.