A reasonable solution to the Fire/EMS debacle

"A government big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take away everything you have."

– U.S. President Gerald Ford.

Shortly before he died, President Ford autographed the first copy of a book that I had published about the Republicans' famous (infamous?) Chowder and Marching Club. While I appreciated the president's inscription, I've always wished that he would have added that famous quotation.

It's one of my favorites.

Obviously, President Ford was referencing the bloated federal bureaucracy in this comment. But rest assured, it also has applications on the state and local levels.

The respective governments' Houses of Cards from federal to state and local levels are well documented but rarely remembered.

Voters and taxpayers often prefer Ignorance and Apathy (IA-1) to Information and Action (IA-2).

Since we are, in fact, Highland County's only locally owned newspaper, let's look at President Ford's statement as it applies on the local level.

"A government big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take away everything you have."

This brings to mind the ongoing – and occasionally contentious – negotiations between the city of Hillsboro and its teams of legal eagles and several of the local townships regarding firefighting and emergency medical services.

On the one hand, the city is selling a service – a service to which it refuses to put an absolute minimum price.

Not long ago, the city's chief fiscal officer – an elected city auditor – placed a value of $27 per Liberty Township resident to this city service. This was an increase of 22 percent on the townships.

The city administration balked at the figure.

Later, the townships offered a rate of $30 per resident, an increase of 30 percent payable to the city of Hillsboro.

The city administration balked at the figure.

Thus, Liberty and other townships are left in limbo and subject to the latest whims of the city which, to this point, has not disclosed its "real rate" for services rendered.

(As the Secret Service found out in South America, these negotiations need to be made ahead of time.)

It's been said that no one "wants to negotiate in the newspapers." Fair enough. But what about being professional, honest, forthcoming and, dare I say it, transparent, with all of the taxpayers involved in this fiscal debacle?

Why is the city so apparently reluctant to withhold the actual percentage of township residents who must pay the city earnings tax in addition to the fees for fire and EMS services? We can build million-dollar structures but we cannot do simple math?

As I posted to The HCP website over the weekend, I cannot help but share this from one of our more astute readers. These are his words regarding the number of Highland County township residents, such as the mayor of Hillsboro, who pay the city earnings tax:

"I think everyone is making this out to be harder than it is. It would be very simple to do a public records request of the addresses of people that pay Hillsboro city earnings tax. Put their addresses – and nothing else – into a spreadsheet. Do another request of all addresses in Highland County from the county auditor, which includes townships for all addresses. Sort to match the addresses and include the townships. The results do not need to include names or income amounts."

Now, we have one of at least four lawyers working for the city taxpayers who points out that the city tax administrator and the city mayor are neighbors, outside the city limits. This lawyer surely can understand elementary arithmetic.

If not, ask one of the other city's taxpayer-funded lawyers to do the math. We're already on the hook for more than $20,000 in additional legal fees in less than five months of the new administration.

This administration keeps talking about transparency. Talk is cheap.

The city obviously knows who pays its earning tax. The city obviously knows where these people live. Do the fifth-grade math and provide the percentage. If you need help, Dave Hilliard is a great math teacher. Transparency, indeed.

This week, trustees from New Market and Washington townships did their best to find an approximate percentage of township residents paying the Hillsboro earnings tax. And, yes, contrary to some of the usual critics' opinions, this is relevant to the ongoing negotiations, as city officials have alleged that townships are not "paying their fair share."

Produce the public records and let the public decide. If not, stop using the city income tax as a point of argument against the township residents.

By the townships' arithmetic (see the letters to the editor), the current cost for services is $305.36 per township resident vs. $162.27 per city resident per call/incident.

"Now, keep in mind, this is with the $22 per person contract," trustees said. "The townships are now offering $30. So ask yourself, who is subsidizing whom?"

Good question.

Of course, the city can produce the true numbers on who pays its tax if it so chooses.

Last year, the city auditor summed up this negotiating process by saying the city should look at it as a "shared cost of labor" and if it did, $27 per resident would be reasonable. The townships have offered $30.

The city should take it and lock it in for three years.

The townships should agree to 10-percent annual increases in the ensuing five years. That puts the cost at just under $49 per resident in eight years, which is more than a 100-percent increase over where things stand today.

I'm no Dave Hilliard when it comes to math, but I have covered the spending practices of the city of Hillsboro since 1994. The city can afford to give a little and get a little on this negotiation.

In return, the townships will find no better fire/EMS services than those provided by Hillsboro Fire and Rescue.

I've looked at the map of Highland County and its 17 (I hope 17 is correct) townships a lot lately. For Liberty Township, the $30 fee guaranteed for three years, with annual increases of 10 percent a year thereafter for five years, seems like a "no-brainer."

For outlying townships to the south, I think serious discussions with Chief Mosely and Southern Highland Joint Fire District would be in order. Particularly so with the addition of a substation in Sugar Tree Ridge.

The townships have put their cards on the table in good faith. The city should do the same.

Rory Ryan is publisher of The Highland County Press.