Tax department new hires approved
Bellefontaine City Council at its regular meeting Tuesday, Aug. 26, passed two ordinances that will increase the number of available positions in both the Bellefontaine Fire Department and the Bellefontaine Police Department by nine for each entity.
But this does not mean that the administration will be filling all 18 of the new positions immediately.
“With the way our city is growing, we’ll need to start by building up our minimum staffing (for both departments),” said Mayor David Crissman following the meeting, “but, no, we will not be looking to fill all of those positions right away.”
Mayor Crissman said given the vigorous application and screening processes as well as the intense competition with other agencies to recruit qualified applicants for these jobs, it would be difficult, at best, to recruit nine new firefighters and nine police officers all at once.
Crissman noted that Police Chief Chris Marlow said the city should start actively seeking to fill the nine new police officer positions straight away, as the process would likely take up to three years. Similar extended time frames would also be needed to fill all of the new firefighters’ positions.
Before the passage of the two ordinances, both the BFD and BPD generally had to wait until a position was open before the process of recruiting a replacement was initiated.
But now with these new measures in place, Mayor Crissman said the departments can begin to fill slots before current firefighters/officers retire or leave the job, allowing each to keep staffing at or above minimum levels, a problem that has plagued both the BFD and BPD for some time.
While all of the new positions may indeed be filled in the coming years, the ordinances passed Tuesday immediately give both departments more breathing room to actively recruit and hire applicants without the pressure of having to do so only after a current slot becomes open.
Council also created two other new positions in the administration Tuesday, waiving the three-reading rule and voting unanimously to create a second full-time tax superintendent and a new full-time revenue collection specialist for the Bellefontaine Tax Department.
Unlike the firefighter and police officer positions, the city will look to immediately fill these positions as the city’s contract with the Regional Income Tax Agency (RITA), which has handled collection of city taxes for the past several years, expires on Dec. 31. With this change, the job of assessing and collecting taxes goes back to the city tax department, calling for the creation of the two new positions.
Mayor Crissman and Service/Safety Director Wes Dodds said that these positions are expected to be filled as soon as possible.
Also adopted by the council on a final vote Tuesday was an ordinance that will direct the city to donate $100,000 toward the Logan County Animal Shelter, which is currently under construction by the Logan County Sheriff’s Office on County Road 32.
The council also approved granting the Logan County Cooperative Power and Light Association the right to construct lines and distribute electricity within the city limits. Both measures passed with 7-0 votes.
Making its first of three appearances before the council Tuesday was an ordinance accepting the annexation into Bellefontaine 143.138 acres of land adjacent to the southwest section of the city.
Known as the Detrick Properties, the proposed annexation is located in Harrison Township, south of west Lake Ave./County Road 11, and west of south Troy Rd./Township Road 216. Once annexed, the parcels will come into the city zoned as an R-1, One Family Residence District, a designation that could be changed in the future. The measure passed on its first reading without a dissenting vote.
In his report to the council Tuesday, Police Chief Chris Marlow said that his department has two recruits who have entered the final phase of the hiring process, while Fire Chief Brian Wilson said that three of his firefighters have completed paramedic training, two of whom have passed the final test, with the third slated to take it soon.
City council is scheduled to meet again in regular session Tuesday, Sept. 9, at 7:30 p.m.
