I’ll have the full reports posted on the city web page in the next week or so, but I thought I would post some of the interesting things going on in the city here first….
City income taxes are up $344,000 over the same period (Jan-June) last year. The Public Safety Levy is bringing in the largest revenues since its passage. This represents the highest income tax revenues since June 2007. Property tax revenue has flattened out at $29,000 less than last year. We have seen reducing property tax revenues as property values dropped during the recession. A flattening out is the first sign that perhaps we have hit the bottom for property values and can start working towards improving your home value moving forward.
We’ve talked over and over about the appearance of the city. Public Works has been out working to improve “how we look” as you drive around.
Through the end of June this year, the Public Works Department has:
- Removed 135 dead trees throughout the city
- Trimmed and mulched another 196 trees
- Made 78 repairs to playground/parks equipment
- Spent 512 man hours preparing for and cleaning up after special events
- Spent 574 man hours on flower bed maintenance
- Conducted 2,133 lane miles of street sweeping
- Utilized 390 tons of asphalt in pothole repairs.
The Health Department inspected 30 swimming pools throughout the city and processed 2,019 requests for birth/death certificates. 60 children were screened for lead poisoning.
On the heroin front there is mixed news. We had 22 drug related deaths in the first quarter of 2016. Second quarter saw 13 drug related fatalities. The second quarter saw 50 new cases of Hepatitis C, however, an alarming trend.
Calls for fire and EMS service were almost unchanged second quarter this year compared to second quarter last year. There was a small increase in calls for fire and a slight decrease in calls for EMS service.
In Building Inspection, we processed 153 more permits than the same period in 2015, with a construction value of permits pulled so far of $34 million. Building Inspection has completed 1058 inspections year to date.
I am still waiting on a couple of reports from the Middletown Division of Police. We are starting work on the Chronic Nuisance Ordinance, which encompasses both code enforcement and police activity. As I get the police reports in hand, I’ll write a second post later discussing 2nd quarter progress on code enforcement and crime.
Have a great day!
