The Observation Deck

I recall back in July when the property tax reappraisals were mailed out by the county that there was much discussion about the increases.

The PD has no real archive online so I cannot find the PD story, but here is the thread on the Observer from that time:

http://www.lakewoodobserver.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2563&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=county+reappraisals&start=0


I see it is 13.1%. not the 15% I recalled. Hopefully, my memory is better on this fact, but Rocky River went up 9% and Westlake was also less than Lakewood, which I found surprising.

I'll look a bit more for the actual link, but I'm not too keen on spending TOO much time on this because the gist is correct. Lakewood property values did increase and at a rate higher/faster than some desireable surrounding suburbs.

Grace,

Thanks ... that means Lakewood houses are on average are worth $132,327 and Rocky River Houses are worth $203,830 right?

crime statistics are subjective.

In the 90s Sheffield Lake won the prize for highest crime rate crime in Ohio. It all has to do with how crime is reported and classified.

Rape is often underreported, especially in rural-ish suburbs where teenagers have greater privacy.

Burglary is somewhat of a technicality; it could be applied to tenants or tenants' boyfriend/girlfriend showing up when they aren't supposed to.

It is easier to get away with shoplifting at a big box or mall type retail store, so again, this may be under reported in Strongsville.

Rocky River has 2/5ths the population of Lakewood.

Rocky River has about 1/3rd as many houses as Lakewood. Lakewood has 3 times the housing, therefore it may have much greater variance in Housing quality and housing prices: Average or even median resale value has no real importance for comparison.


The Median age of Rocky River residents is 10 years higher than the Median age of Lakewood Residents. This implies fewer children and/or higher Median Incomes. Fewer Young people generally means less crime, though there were headlines a few weeks ago about Rocky River teenagers committing some felonies.

Most of the homes in Rocky River were built after 1950. Most of the homes in Lakewood were built before 1940(before mass scale socio-economic stratification began really taking off). Fewer than 1/4th of homes in Lakewood have a mortgage. More than 1/3rd of homes in Rocky River have a mortgage. This implies Rocky River homes have been sold more recently, and thus move up the median and average home value number.

Fewer than 1/3rd of Rocky river homes are rented. About 60 percent of Lakewood homes are rented. The goal of renting out a home, or owning a home that is payed off, is to minimize the amount of annual taxes you pay on it. This requires keeping their "official" value down.

In one way these statistics aren't important. In another, they are important when they fit into the formulas that drive herd mentality.

Another factor is rate of turnover for the top 10 percent of homes. Are the fancier homes north of Clifton more likely to be owned by the same people/family that owned them 30 years ago? How does this compare with Rocky River?

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Charyn,

So let's really discuss the budget. What are our per capita rates compared to surrounding communities? What are our financial priorities? What are out potential resources and how are we exploiting them fully?

Yes! ... that's all this was about.

I quoted wages just to say that Lakewood was a good and HIGH paid place to work already....

FOR EXAMPLE: Rates are important in my mind for looking at crime and police wages.

I have compared Cleveland Heights and Lakewood because I think we are similar communities.

CLEVELAND HEIGHTS

109 TOTAL ENFORCEMENTS OFFICERS $477,352 total cost to community w/ an average salary of $52,552 per officer ( the big cities data does not include clerical here it is counted elsewhere)

LAKEWOOD

88 TOTAL ENFORCEMENTS OFFICERS $540,054 total cost to community w/ an average salary of $73,643 per officer ( the big cities data does not include clerical here it is counted elsewhere)

I will not go into total crime now... but in every statistically documented crime Cleveland Heights has a lower total. (I can not reference un reported crime) 2004 data. Yes the community is smaller, but they have more officers.

Do I think that police wages should be lowered? NO should we find a better way? Should we be aware that crime is a factor when people move into a community?

Charyn... you get what I was talking about, I was trying to say that Lakewood should evaluate where they spend their employee capital.... they should compare the existing market and come up with the way to make Lakewood the best that we can be.

Most of the stats I found are on http://www.city-data.com/city/Ohio.html

Thanks for your understanding, not for picking another fight.

For your information I never intended to infer runaway costs... If anything I am guilty of trying to make a market correction.

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Phil Florian wrote:I guess I am wondering about the context of your questions. Are you asking because you think this is a rip off and we should cut pay for city workers? Or are you asking because you bask in the glow of love for them and think they deserve more than 4% a year? Just curious.

I think that government employees in general are paid better than people who work in the private sector. 20 or 30 years ago public sector employees were paid less than private sector employees. To compensate for that the public sector employees were given substantially better benefits.

Over the last 20 years the real wages of most private sector employees have stagnated and the level of benefits they received has declined. Public sector employees have been mostly immune from that economic reality. I think you would be a bit startled if you knew how many city employees cost more than $85,000 per year.

If tax revenues were growing faster than expenditures the level of pay and benefits given to city employees would not be a big issue. However, over the next two or three years the City will be faced with stagnant or declining revenues even as costs continue to escalate. Even the 50% increase in the income tax rate proposed by the City will not be enough to cover those costs.

Something has to give. I think it is time to have a public discussion on the issue. That is the reason for the post.

For a rather harsh analysis of the situation see:

http://www.city-journal.org/html/15_4_taxpayers.html

Stan Austin wrote:Failing agreement, there is mandatory arbitration which usually achieves a common sense agreement.

Binding arbitration has been a disaster for City finances. The negotiations go something like this:

Arbitrator to union: What do you want?

Union: More

City: We have no cash, no borrowing authority, revenues are stagnant, services levels are declining the middle class is leaving...

Arbitrator to union: What do you think about that?

Union: We don't care. We want more.

Arbitrator to City: Give it to them.

This normally takes several months to a year because the arbitrator is paid by the hour.

The City needs bold leadership. The first Mayor of an inner ring suburb to successfully revitalize his city will be the hero. As of now I don't see any hero's out there.

Mark Reinhold wrote:Charyn,

FOR EXAMPLE: Rates are important in my mind for looking at crime and police wages.

I have compared Cleveland Heights and Lakewood because I think we are similar communities.

CLEVELAND HEIGHTS

109 TOTAL ENFORCEMENTS OFFICERS $477,352 total cost to community w/ an average salary of $52,552 per officer ( the big cities data does not include clerical here it is counted elsewhere)

LAKEWOOD

88 TOTAL ENFORCEMENTS OFFICERS $540,054 total cost to community w/ an average salary of $73,643 per officer ( the big cities data does not include clerical here it is counted elsewhere)

If I may throw a factor in to be considered. I believe that Cleveland Hts has a higher percentage of officers that police the meters than most cities. I seem to recall that being a consideration of those looking to join a force. May be something to take into consideration if we're going to compare the two. One, adding "meter maids" may be a way to generate income. Lord knows you can't park at an expired meter in CH without paying $25 to the city. But also for comparison it increases the number of cops and lower the average paid per officer.