This is the second of a two-part editorial on Grove City's Issue 28. In Part 1, we looked at what it does and who's over the line. Today: who pays.
Now the math. Income tax pays for more than 80 percent of the general fund, and most of that comes from paycheck withholding. The city's finance director told council in April that it takes withholding from 158 jobs to pay for one police officer. Grove City's three largest private employers, a Walmart distribution center, Mount Carmel, and FedEx Ground, employ about 4,700 people. That's roughly 30 officers' worth. And county parcel records put all three over the 50-acre line.
Chase them off and the gap gets filled by cuts or higher taxes. Working families and seniors feel both. Not Jen Belt, the campaign's most visible spokesperson, who one statewide report says lives in Pleasant Township. If that means she's outside the city, she doesn't even get a vote on Issue 28.
It reaches past payrolls. Two South-Western school properties top 50 acres, too, and the amendment has no exemption for schools. The campaign's own plain-language guide compares the daytime noise limit, measured at the nearest home as a peak, not an average, to a normal conversation. If the law director says a school campus counts, cheer quieter, and the marching band might as well be a quartet.
Capital is mobile. If Issue 28 passes, development will leave faster than Ohio Stadium empties after halftime of a non-conference blowout with a 130-degree field temperature. An employer like Walmart or an institution like Mount Carmel must wait for a November election and fund the study and the vote before expanding. Council President Ted Berry didn't say hurt, wound, or setback. His words: "This will kill our city."
In that case, don't expect to see a bunch of votes appear on your November or general election ballots. They won't be there. What will be there is a line of U-Hauls as businesses and residents head for the exits. Don't believe us? See California and New York.
Our prediction, sadly: police, fire, and EMS response times will grow longer. Reality is hard when you're emotionally committed to a movement. Early voting starts Oct. 6.
Good luck, Greyhounds. You have a lot riding on this.
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