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Ax drops on more money for trees
(by Joseph Koziol Jr. - September 17, 2008)
Ax drops on more money for trees
By JOSEPH KOZIOL JR.
Chardon City Council opted last week to forego an increase in an assessment for care of the city's trees. Council voted to keep its assessment for the coming year at $60,000, the same as this year, rather than increase it to $75,000.
Councilman Jefferey Campbell Jr. said the added assessment would be a burden to residents who already are struggling with a weak economy. He offered a compromise that kept the assessment the same and called for council to prioritize additional money from the city's general fund to make up the difference.
Kenneth Miller, Chardon's urban forester, said the 25 percent increase in funding was sought by the shade tree commission to aid in a planting program.
He said the initial program was started by council to ensure the safety of pedestrians and motorists. An ordinance created for the purpose refers to the "public health, convenience and welfare" in citing the need to care for the city's trees, he said.
He said a young boy was killed many years ago from a falling branch, and the program was started to prevent other such tragedies.
Now, Chardon faces an increasingly aging urban forest that has become "extremely expensive," Mr. Miller said. Many of the city's maple trees are in decline, with a growing number that have to be removed, he said.
As the responsibility for the care and removal of trees has grown, Mr. Miller said, so has the number of requests for new plantings. He said the Woods of Burlington neighborhood has asked the shade tree commission to draw up a tree-planting plan for its common lands.
For the past two years, the commission's budget has been exhausted through the brush pickup programs and tree trimming, he said, leaving little money for limited plantings. In the past, he said, the city has planted 50 to 75 trees and sometimes as many as 125 trees in a year. He said the additional money requested would allow the city to plant 75 trees next year.
"If we want an aggressive tree-planting program, the money has to come from somewhere," Mr. Miller said.
City Manager David Lelko said a home with a market value of $205,700 and an assessed value of $72,000 pays $28.82 under the current assessment. With the increase, the same property owner would pay $36.02.
Randal Sharpe, assistant to the city manager, said it would work out to less than $5 per $100,000 of market value.
Councilman Robert Cromwell, a member of the tree commission, said the city can see the benefits of the program, because few downed branches are found after wind storms. Because of the aging tree stock in the city, more and more money has to be allocated for their care, and the plantings have been neglected, he said.
But Mr. Campbell said, with many feeling pressured by the economic downturn, it may be unfair to tap them for additional money. He said people he spoke to feel they have paid enough and that the city should find the money to maintain and plant trees.
Councilman Philip King said he historically has opposed changing funding mechanisms set up in the city.
Mr. Campbell said residents were sold on the idea of doubling their municipal income taxes with the promise that the city would hold down other costs for them. But he said they face one of the highest income-tax rates for a city of Chardon's size and some of the highest water and sewer bills in the state. He said it would be unfair to assess them more.
When a motion to increase the assessment failed by a 3-3 vote, Mr. Campbell amended the motion to keep the assessment the same. That motion passed unanimously.
Mr. Campbell also proposed setting a budget priority for next year to provide $15,000 for tree planting. It also passed unanimously.
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