Upper Arlington Issue 34 Asks for a Larger Safety Pension Levy

Upper Arlington voters will decide Issue 34 on Tuesday, November 3, a property tax that pays the city's required share of police and fire retirement costs. The city levy page says the current levy of 0.89 mills runs out after tax year 2026. The ballot question would renew that amount and add 0.24 mills on top, bringing the rate to 1.13 mills for five years.

Here is what the city says it would cost. At the full rate, a homeowner pays $26 a year per $100,000 of home value, which is $8.50 more than today, and the owner of a $500,000 house pays $130, up $42. Because the renewed part still gets Ohio's rollback credit, the city estimates eligible homeowners would actually pay $23.71 per $100,000, or $118.55 on that $500,000 house. Collection would start with tax year 2027, so the first bills arrive in 2028.

The money has one job. State law requires the city to put the equivalent of 19.5 percent of police wages and 24 percent of firefighter wages into the statewide Ohio Police and Fire Pension Fund, and Upper Arlington has paid that share with a voted levy for about 50 years, through ten five-year issues. The new rate would bring in roughly $2.2 million a year. If it fails, the city says, the pension bill would still be due and would come out of the general fund, the budget that pays for other services.

The city notes that it receives only about 8 percent of the property tax a UA resident pays, with most going to the schools, the library and Franklin County levies. Its November and December newsletter, which the city says should be in mailboxes now, also previews the start of council budget season and a proposed review rule for license plate reader cameras. Best of 614 does not take positions on ballot issues.

For more from the suburb, read about the Tremont Center outdoor drinking area and the Fancyburg Park playground plans, browse our Upper Arlington page, and follow the rest of the election week in City.