Senior Center Levy

Middletown is simply destroying the property value of everyone in Middletown, with their nonsensical and chronic support of tax levies. No one wants to move to Middletown because it is nothing but a tax nightmare---the only proposed solution for "revenue generation." No benefits, no services, just taxes, taxes, and more taxes.

This is an outrageous claim from the Senior Citizens Group. They hired a top architect to build the Center and bought 11 acres. I have spoken to many, many senior citizens, and Middletown has a lot of them, and many were very turned off by the personnel initially running the center. They should have modeled how many members would join and how much business they would do. This is absolutely patently unfair. Did Davey's get a bail out from the city or tax payer to stay in business.

Living in Middletown is a constant hassle, always a crisis. Because of the Sr. Citizens poor leadership and inability to properly write a business plan, they come to the voters, to pay for their mistakes. Many architects I spoke with, stated they should have kept the original building, turned it into apartments, perhaps one or two floors, instead of putting $3 Mm in destroying John XXIII and starting over.

If council votes for this, when they would not allow a TIF for the post office, and the Sr Citizens leadership own errors in forecasting how they would make a return to pay their lavish building, all that is occurring is less and less residents will be attracted to the city. Throw in the school levies, now this, the idiotic public safety levey, and the continued problems Middletown has, it simply makes owning property in a city offering nothing, a most unpleasant city to reside.

Why did the Sr. Citizens Center wait 7 years to sell 5.5 acres that they have done nothing with? They have seen their property values go down, about a 1/3 of what it was when they built, and they cannot refinance. Residents, do yourselves a favor. Spend 200.00 for an appraisal of your house. You'll see in 4 years, you've lost about 40% of value. Yet, you are expected to bail out the Sr. Citizens mistakes.

Maybe its time for the city to lend money at 0%, they seem to have a lot to go around. If JL is reading posts anymore, ask them Mr. L. why they had their numbers wrong, why they bought 11 acres and could not even afford to put in a walking or exercise trail. Are they going to do that now? And how many mebers do they have now, 300---and expect 10,000 votes to come their way.

The city is always on fire. The AK strike, the roads, the infrastructure, public safety, school system, it just doesn't end. Throw in 2008 market crash, and the city is in such a deep tailspin, while the Beast thrives, those around it, are getting nothing but the shaft. If you are a "lifer", you don't care, you take one from the team. If you came in 25 years ago or less, and just want out, you are trapped. What a swell fate within the walls of Middletown. 



    

Perhaps they are also as poorly run as Middletown?

Or, they all want and expect the taxpayer to absorb the costs. I don't think Middletown has even 500 members. Their business plan was a failure, no more complicated than that.

Bill, you are absolutely correct. They had visions of an athletic walk path, a work out track with stations, etc. That never occurred of course. Mr. S. had a reputation from many I know, for being offensive and cavalier. At the end of the day, they bit off far more than they could chew. Their membership drives just have not generated the funds they hoped. Now, they can't mow half their property.

What's Coldwell Banker going to sell the land for---high rise condo's to walk across to the Arboretum? About 4 of council members should abstain from voting as the purchase moved Fenwick out, JXXIII over, and payback has no place in this vote.  

I will be voting "NO".Until they go through the books an let te people see what they are spending the monies on.

Bill wrote: From what I understand I believe they run a very tight ship...mainly out of necessity.  It wouldn't surprise me if employees are practically buying their own office supplies.  As acclaro mentioned, it is a small group of members who use the yellow palace for activities and cheap meals and yet grumble about a $40 annual fee.  It is a venue without a corresponding market.   I don't see any way I can vote yes for something that serves so few (on site).  Their most needed service is probably Meals on Wheels and they could have been doing that from the old building without building new.

Bill, my wife gets Meals on Wheels delivered to the house by Butler County Council On Aging, not through the Middletown Seniors Center. We do receive the bus with the handicapped lift on it for her to go to her doctors appts through Middletown Seniors. A very nice service and alleviates us having to do the transition from wheelchair to car, fold wheelchair, drive to appt., unfold wheelchair, transition her to wheelchair, into drs office, back to car, transition to car, fold wheelchair, drive home, unfold wheelchair, transition from car to wheelchair into house routine. A killer routine for sure for the caregiver. (sorry for the involved description but didn't know any other way to explain what we do if the bus is not there for us)