Why The City of Middletown Tax Levy MUST FAIL!

I'm hearing that the Tax Levy signs are showing up in yards WITHOUT permission.

Mr. King, do an audit of the public safety funds and you will take note of the movement from safety into other areas. Many signs are placed illegally, within a few ft of the street. Public safety is oriented towards the multiple vehicles that the city utilizes to take individuals to the Atrium, which is about 90% of the man hours associated with the fire department, not fighting raging fires.

I take great offense to your comments.

The city took $50,000 to sneak this levy through, and I have heard one cannot get an absentee ballot, I am confirming this on Monday. It is interesting to note the union helped pay for the signs....surprising? Not in the least. 

There is virtually no housing market for sellers. The safety levy passes, and you won't be able to give your house away. The death nail cometh. Middletown and Hamilton at 1.75/ 2.0%, both are floundering and taxing businesses and residents out of the community. This isn't about public safety, its about job security and an opportunity for elevation in the pecking order called "seniority. Disappointingly, as 53% of population is in poverty, less than 6000 will even vote.

Acclaro,

It appears that the Senior Citizens Levy has struck a nerve with you and I can’t, for the life of me, figure out why you are so concerned about it. If this city is such a waste, the seniors levy shouldn’t make much of a difference. If the city is already gone, passage of the seniors levy shouldn’t matter to anyone. If the city has been already been sunk by its union mindset; a mindset of laziness and unwillingness to do the heavy lifting needed to be successful, why should this levy be any different? If AK Steel and the Atrium Medical Center left this town because they didn’t want to be a part of it, why would this legislation make a difference one way or the other? If Forbes is correct in its assessment that Middletown is in a death spin, wouldn’t this levy hasten the end and put us out of our misery? If those with a brain have already left this city, why are you still here and why do you care so much about defeating this levy?

Although I agree with you concerning the Public Safety levy, I look at the seniors’ situation a little differently. You keep stating that “they” made a poor business decision and that “they” need to live with the consequences. In reality, the “they” that made the poor decision was actually made up of very few people but the “they” that will feel the consequences of the failed levy are far reaching. In fact, the lost services could, conceivably, impact all of us as we age. I know that the Board of Directors has taken many steps to “tighten their belt” and I know that they have made significant progress since hiring Ann Munafo. Unfortunately, they still need help getting over the hump. Although I doubt that the levy will pass in our current economy, it will get my vote.

GG

gg, if you can't comprehend the economics associated with higher taxes, bad schools, no support of infrastructure, waste on downtown boondoggle projects serving the interest of certain council members and city leaders, then you'll never comprehend the point on the impct on passing this levy, the senior citizen levy, and the next school levy. CS& H, AK, and the Atrium left Middletown because of the taxation, its a fact, no other reason. Simply put, people don't move in when taxes are so high, and so little value is provided in return.

If Middletown is comprised of 43% seniors, why is only a few buying into a membership? Ask anyone around them and the general response is they are bad neighbors. Less than 5% of senior citizens even pay a membership fee.

Houses on Rosedale have been on market 7-9 years, without an offer, $250,000 + range, by Akers, Williams, Siewney. No one can get out out of Middletown, unless you are dumping the house like China does steel in North America. 

Mr Saunders,

The reduction in police and fire manpower:
This is more of a question for the city manager and/or council member. I am with all of you and was highly angered when members and staffing of the Middletown Fire Department were laid off and decreased. I am sure a lot of the blame will be put on the money the state took from municipalities.
I myself can not promise that the city leadership will not make additional cuts down the road. I can only assure you if this levy fails you will see more drastic cuts to service.

Will members vote yes for the levy:
I have spoke will all our members that live in the city and they have said they will vote YES.

What are you getting for your money and how will it affect you if it fails?
The Matrix study that the city paid for a few years back said that 16 personnel per day was the WORST case scenario. That is where we are at today and I'd say we are already pushing the envelope. Members of council said that if the levy passed they would accept the SAFER grant that MFD was awarded which would allow us to go back to a min. of 19 per day. It isn't much more but puts the department in a better situation then it is in today where we are waiting on help from Monroe, Franklin, Jems or other surrounding departments on a daily basis.

I also want to remind people this is a RENEWAL and will NOT increase taxes.

MFD currently is able to respond and arrive to the over 95% of emergency details in 4 minutes or less. If the levy would fail.....well I'm sure you can draw your own conclusion and I don't want to be accused of using scare tactics.

Thanks again for all the questions and I hope I was able to answer them fully for you all.

Chris Klug
Vice President
Middletown Firefighters Local 336

acclaro,

Contrary to your belief, others on this board comprehend economics just fine; you don't have to be a consultant to understand everything. The point that I was trying to make is this: "If you believe that the city of Middletown is too far gone to turn things around, why do you care one way or the other concerning the levies?" Could it be that you care more than you want to admit?

GG

It may be simple, but you didn't come close to answering my question. In your opinion, is this city too far gone to recover? If so, why do you give a damn about the levies? Pretty simple questions.

.Although Im undecided on how I will vote its gonna be hard to vote for anything or any one that aj smith supports. Any one that even stands next to this guy in public looses credibility and looks as foolish as he does in my opinion.

middie83 wrote: Richard: I will check on the total numbers as I can't think off the top of my head. As well we have many retired members that live in the city that have pledged their support.

Have your retired members also "pledged their support" for the Senior Citizens' levy?

very strange questions and direction, Mr.Goose

I think a simple metaphor or analogy for the treatment the city of Middletown has shown for decades to residents is going out to eat at a nice restaurant you think, and when getting there, having just horrible service. The water is never refreshed, no fresh bread is brought to the table, the food is cold, and service is non existence. After eating and tolerating such deplorable conditions, you grab the check, and its outrageous. Your face turns a bright color of red, your veins gush from the overflow of blood on your of forehead, and you demand to speak to the manager.

After waiting 15 minutes for him to come to the table, you unleash on how bad service was, how the food was cold, the steak was raw, under-cooked, and the service was unacceptable. You sit back, and expect apologies, a refund, and a complimentary meal on the house next time. Instead, the manager tells you here's the bill, at $35.00 a plate, and a reminder parking while dining, cost $10.00.

You sit there in complete bewilderment, shake your head, and walk to the cash register. That is what these levies are about, bad service, a bad meal, indifferent attitude, and a price pt revoltingly too high.

One would not tolerate such treatment in a restaurant, it should not be tolerated in a city that has tightened the screws and made it impossible to to attract a buyer for houses and businesses. When CS & H, AK, and other businesses state they moved out because of the need to remain competitive associated with recruitment and retention of employees, they mean on tax rate. Better to be in West Chester or Mason paying 0% for the employee, or Middletown or Hamilton paying 1.75-2%?

Ask the city manager for a doggie bag after your meal and see what response you get. To the rah rah cheer-leaders on the levy, they all work or worked, at the same restaurant you just had the bad meal.

Vivian, I have heard exactly the same, across the board. I was in Big Lots last weekend buying some rope to tie tree limbs up. As soon as I walked into the store, I heard a man stating openly to the cashier, how he grew up in Middletown, and hated to even drive into the city now---he moved to Monroe. He said it was like coming into Croatia, or a 3rd world country.

It may be a euphoric city for the docs that made a ton of money on AK's generous benefits, but for the vast majority, living in Middletown is equivalent to Dante's Inferno. The restaurant manager plans to continue to serve cold food, no refills on water, you have to beg for clean silverware, and pay at the end, an outrageous sum for a pathetic meal.

That's what Middletown has been for three decades.