Hilliard Headlines: City has been receiving questions on Issue 22, community center plan
By now, most residents likely have heard about Issue 22, which would increase the income-tax rate in Hilliard by a 0.5 percentage point and dedicate that money entirely to recreation and parks, including construction of a community center and additional athletics fields.
Information about Issue 22 is available at hilliardohio.gov/pathtopossibilities, but the city has received some questions this column can help address.
Why was the Jerman property selected as the site of the community center?
The Jerman property is 125 acres west of and adjacent to Roger A. Reynolds Municipal Park. The city owns the land and plans to develop the property as parkland with athletics fields and other amenities. The property is centrally located to the city, and its development will help us achieve other goals, including alleviating traffic congestion by creating an extension of Cosgray Road to Alton Darby Creek Road.
What specifics are available about the athletic fields?
We plan for the existing HOSA fields to move to the southern end of the Jerman property. This portion of the property would allow for approximately 20% more field space than currently available, as well as several synthetic-turf fields. The concept plan also includes unprogrammed open space that can be developed later to meet the community’s evolving needs in the coming years.
How final should the community consider the concept plan for the Jerman property to be?
A concept plan shows the general direction a development is headed. The city intends to have significant community input into the design and development of this future park and the community center. Although the basics are there – the property will have sports fields, a community center, green space and the other amenities indicated – many specifics will be determined with community input.
Why didn’t the city present a fully fleshed-out design for the community center and park before presenting Issue 22 to the community?
The pros and cons of this were discussed. Some residents would prefer to see exactly what is planned, but there is a significant cost in creating detailed architectural plans and going through the community planning process for such a major project. Ultimately, Hilliard City Council decided better stewardship of tax dollars would be to give residents a general plan, including the major amenities that would be included in the community center, and wait until voters gave the city the go-ahead before investing in an extensive community input and architectural process that would lead to detailed final designs. Either way, we are committed to ensuring residents’ voices are heard loud and clear, from start to finish.
Why did the city choose the 0.5-percentage-point income-tax increase rather than other funding alternatives?
An income tax, by definition, affects those who work in the city – not necessarily those who live here. More than 75% of those who pay Hilliard income taxes don’t live in the city – but many of those individuals are already paying 2.5% income taxes because they live in Columbus or other cities, where their income-tax rate is already higher. For those individuals, Issue 22 has no effect on their actual income taxes. It just changes which municipality receives that money. Every taxpayer’s situation is different, though, so the city has provided a handy calculator on our website to help residents determine how Issue 22 would affect them.
If funds from Issue 22 are earmarked for recreation and parks, what happens to the money currently in the city’s budget for those areas?
The goal is for the Hilliard Recreation and Parks Department to be self-sufficient with the 0.5 percentage point, but City Council always will have the option of allocating additional funding from the general fund to recreation and parks if needs or opportunities arise.
In 2020, the recreation and parks department received $3.8 million in operating funds. If Issue 22 is approved, these funds would be redirected to high-priority infrastructure and service delivery needs, such as police services, road projects, infrastructure, economic development, snow removal, debt repayment and so forth. The details of this reallocation would be included in future operating and capital budgets and would change annually. These budgets go through extensive review and approval process every fall, and the public will have the opportunity to review them and comment on them before City Council approval. These budgets are available online.
Michelle Crandall is city manager of Hilliard.