City of Warren asking residents to renew income tax levy for safety forces

WARREN, Ohio (WKBN) – The City of Warren is asking voters to renew the half-percent income tax they approved four years ago.

If approved, the renewal would be for the next five years.

Since establishing the tax, Mayor Doug Franklin says they’ve increased the city’s safety forces by adding 16 police officers and 18 firefighters. The tax also allows all three fire stations in the city to stay open.

He says they’ve also been able to take an aggressive approach to road resurfacing projects on neighborhood streets.

“We’re not asking this to be permanent, we always want to be accountable to the taxpayers, so they’ll have a chance to evaluate our performance and that’s what we want, we welcome that,” Franklin said.

Franklin says the tax brings in more than $4 million each year for the city and that tax passing is critical for the city’s safety forces.