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Presenter: Odds do not favor merger
Thursday, April 10, 2008
CENTERVILLE — Most successful governmental mergers in Ohio have been among much smaller entities than Washington Twp. and Centerville, the preparer of a financial impact analysis of a potential merger between the township and city, told residents gathered at the Centerville Police headquarters March 31.
"Statistically, odds do not favor merger," said Hugh Hinton of the Urban Affairs Center at the University of Toledo, who prepared and presented the report. City residents tend to favor mergers more than township residents, he said, and of those who proposed mergers in Ohio, "less than 20 percent did merge."
Extras
The major motivation for a merger is usually "the threat of annexation," Hinton said. He said his study did not look at the negative consequences of mergers, though "one of them is here in Montgomery County." The assumption in mergers is that the merged entity will look like a city and increased income tax revenue will make property taxes go down, he said, though some costs may increase, he said.
One advantage of a merger is that a larger city could be eligible for Community Development Block grants, he said. He cited the city of Kettering, which he said has received a half million dollars a year for the past three years, noting that while a government grant may mean more money, "it's not useful if they force you to do things you don't want to do."
At one point Washington Twp. Trustee president Joyce Young got a large laugh when she said the Clayton-Randolph Twp. "murder," instead of "merger," quickly correcting herself, in pointing out that many residents of former Randolph Twp. in the merged city of Clayton now pay a 1.5 percent income tax and more than 2 mills in property tax. It was a case "where they underestimated the cost of the merger and kind of overestimated the benefits," Young said.
Young said later she felt "the mood was quite clear" in the meeting, "weighted heavily with Washington Twp. residents. No one wanted any kind of merger. Though we want to continue with the good relationship with Centerville, we're not ready for a merger," she said. "We do not fit the characteristics of cities and townships that have mergers and there is no pressing reason to merge," she said, though, "at some point we're going to have to not be so reliant on property taxes."
Of the 19 residents who spoke during the meeting, most said they still have unanswered questions about how a "new Centerville" would look, what zoning changes might be made, how the town might be governed, and actual savings to be gained.
"What happens if Centerville decided to secede from the township?" Centerville resident Ralph Stahl asked. "What is the real cost of not going together?" he asked.
"We will end up as one government some time in the future," Centerville Councilman Brooks Compton said, "for ultimately it will demand us to do this. I do believe in 10 to 15 years we will be one government."
A number of township residents and officials criticized the county and county engineer for not returning the township's fair share of taxes to maintain and improve roads, but also noted the study didn't mention several major capital improvement projects the county will be paying for.
Washington Twp. Trustee Lee Snyder said the expansion of Social Row Road is estimated at $17 million and improvements to Clyo Road are estimated at $15 to $20 million.
The study said it would cost more for police services in a merger, but it didn't calculate the full cost, said Tom Zobrist, Washington Twp. fiscal officer. To keep the city's current 1.7 ratio of officers per 1,000 residents, the merged entity would need twice as many new officers. If the city's current cost per officer is $137,166, the estimated cost for a merged department would be more than $12 million, he said. Police services cost about $2.97 million for the township and $5.76 million for the city in 2006, he said.
Centerville Mayor Mark Kingseed said a merger would help make sure revenue sources are there so residents "would not have to rely on the county for handouts. It would allow this community to be in control of its own destiny," he said. "The thing that concerns me is that the burden of property taxes is going to get worse and worse," he said. "The property tax burden is just going to crush people."
Under a merger some people would pay less taxes and others more, Kingseed said. "It is an individual decision."
The report excludes county-wide, school, and library taxes, and should have excluded the park district, said Bill Williams of the board of park commission for the Centerville-Washington Park District. It is separate from the township and city and to indicate "eliminating or reducing the levy to the park district would be misleading to the public," he said.
Washington Twp.'s Web site plans to provide a link to a video of the March 31 presentation when it is posted on the Miami Valley Communications Council Web site, according to Jackie Curl, public information manager for the township. Residents can learn about the financial studies on the merger issue by clicking on the "Financial Studies" link on the township Web site at: www.washingtontwp.org., she said.
Residents can contact Washington Twp. at (937) 433-0152 or the city at (937) 433-7151 for further information.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2341 or kullmer@DaytonDailyNews.com.
