Found in the minutes of the last Lakewood Village Board meeting:
PRESENTATION OF FIRE PROTECTION FUNDING – OUTLINE AND TIMELINE FOR SPRING REFERENDUM CONSIDERATION
President Stavropoulos reiterated the summary of his memo outlining his objectives:
The July discussion established the financial problem.
The issue is whether a dedicated fire protection tax can be structured in a manner that addresses that problem while providing
appropriate protection for Lakewood taxpayers.
Before a referendum is finalized, the Board should have
1) a thorough Village-wide expenditure review identifying reasonable and sustainable cost reductions – if any,
2) a defined reduction in the existing Village levy providing a meaningful offset to the new fire protection tax, and
3) the strongest legally permissible guardrails against future levy increases that could negate that offset.
In addition. Village Manager Miller highlighted his outline and timeline regarding a proposed fire referendum.
He will meet individually with trustees to review and answer questions, ensuring an informed decision on the next steps. [Em[hasis added.]
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Note the phrase “meaningful offset.” That says “tax hike” to me.
Also note that there will be no paper record of what each Trustee says in hi/her meetingwith the Village Manager. No Freedom of Information requests on the meetings will be possible’
