BUCYRUS, OH (CRAWFORD COUNTY NOW)—At a Finance Committee meeting held Thursday evening, the Bucyrus City Council focused on strategies to increase revenue and cut expenses in light of a significant $300,000 deficit in the general fund.
Finance Committee Chairman Kevin Myers led a serious and thoughtful discussion on how to navigate the financial challenges facing the city, including the recent failure of a safety forces equipment levy and the need to promote the renewal of a street levy set for the November general election.
During the public participation segment, Bucyrus resident Kurt Fankhauser criticized the council’s efforts, claiming that decisions to raise wages had only worsened the city’s financial situation.
Myers emphasized that failure of the street levy renewal would adversely affect multiple city departments, noting that the funds from this levy are among the best managed in the city.
The committee explored various options for increasing revenue, including broadening the scope of the safety forces levy by potentially introducing multiple levy proposals on the November ballot. Resident Greg White suggested separating the safety forces equipment levy from a wage support levy, allowing voters to choose which areas they want to support.
In a significant move, the committee voted to repeal an ordinance that mandates a minimum staffing level of six personnel per shift at the firehouse, returning the authority to set staffing levels to the Safety Service Director. Myers expressed regret over this decision, noting it was purely financial. “If the money was there to pay for it, I’d prefer eight on staff at all times,” he said.
Councilman James Mee voiced his concerns about the political implications of cutting or eliminating the out-of-town worker tax credit, stating, “It’s political suicide for some of us.” Myers countered, “We’re not here to be reelected. We’re here to run the city.”
The committee awaits precise figures on potential percentage cuts to the tax credits, aiming to reduce them without completely eliminating the benefit. Councilman Chris Mauritz mentioned ongoing efforts by the administration to reduce spending, which would help alleviate some taxpayer burdens. He also noted a loss of approximately $100,000 in tax revenue from remote workers but mentioned that Governor DeWine is finalizing plans for employees to return to their offices.
As part of their campaign to renew the street levy, the committee is organizing public outreach through signage funded by donations. They plan to order 50 signs from a local vendor, encouraging residents to display them on their properties.
Bucyrus Auditor Kali Lewis stressed the importance of increasing revenues and warned that a failure to renew the street levy could lead to budgetary reallocations, negatively affecting services such as snow plowing, leaf pickup, and potentially the opening of the community pool.
Resident Greg White inquired about the pool’s status for this summer, expressing his willingness to secure donations to support its opening. At present, monies have been allocated in the budget to open the pool. Those monies were in last year’s budgets but were cut by the administration, leading to an all-out citizen effort to open the community pool.
Another resident, Clarissa Slater, expressed frustration over her previous submission of nearly 20 pages of research and suggestions to the council, which she said had gone unacknowledged. “It’s not cool,” Slater said. Committee member James Mee encouraged her to resend her proposals.
While Myers expressed reluctance to hold further town halls, he invited the public to attend regular meetings and email their ideas to council members.
When asked about backup plans should the levies fail, he indicated that such plans would need to be defined after the levy proposals are established.