Medina Village Board passes budget that eliminates school resource officers, K9

Village officials were determined to try to bring down tax increase; Hike dropped from 23.5% to 0.2%

Photos by Tom Rivers: Medina firefighter Steve Miller, president of a union representing Medina’s firefighters who also run the ambulance, shares his concerns about the village’s budget for 2025-26 that won’t fill many vacancies in departments, which could lead to a drop in services for the community, including slower response times. Miller did commend the Village Board for their work with the budget. He said the cash-strapped village needs more outside revenue through the local sales tax as well as higher Medicaid reimbursement rates.

MEDINA – The Village Board approved a $7.7 million budget for the general fund on Monday that will cut the two school resource officers at the Medina school district and also end the K9 program at the police department.

The board also won’t be filling any vacant positions in the 2025-26 budget year.

Medina Mayor Marguerite Sherman said the board heard from residents that taxes have become unbearable, and another increase could be tipping point, where many are forced the leave.

“We don’t want to cut any necessities,” Sherman said at the meeting, which was attended by about 50 people. “It is a very tight budget. It will be very difficult to work within.”

Medina Mayor Marguerite Sherman, second from left, said the board was forced to make difficult choices to prevent a steep take increase. She speaks during Monday’s board meeting at the Senior Center. She is joined by Village Trustees Jess Marciano, left, and Mark Prawel, right.

The budget keeps the taxes nearly the same – a 0.2 percent increase or up by $7,144 from $3,903,200 to $3,910,344. During a public hearing two weeks earlier, the tax increase was at 23.5 percent.

Overall spending in the finalized budget is up 0.5 percent or by $37,040, from $7,678,256 to $7,715,296.

The village’s tax rate is up 3 cents from $13.965 to $13.995 per $1,000 of assessed property.

A year ago, Medina’s tax base increased by $100.5 million, going from $178,984,667 to $279,494,874. That was a 56.2 percent increase following town-wide reassessments in both Shelby and Ridgeway. That huge boost in the tax base allowed the tax rate to plunge by more than $7 – from $21.16 to $13.97 per $1,000 of assessed properties in 2024-25.

But this time the tax base is showing a slight decline of $87,963 – from $279,494,874 to $279,406,911.

Village Trustee James “Scott” Bieliski said the Medina school district contribution of $82,500 towards each school resource officer doesn’t cover the full costs of each officer, which Bieliski said is about $125,000 to $130,000.

Debbie Tompkins urged the board to keep the Medina officers as SROs because they already have relationships with many of the students and staff. New SROs if the school district hires them from the Sheriff’s Office would have to start all over with connecting with students and Medina employees.

“They provide a valuable service,” Tompkins said about the SROs from the Medina Police Department. “They know the kids. They have diffused many situations in the community.”

Village Trustee Scott Bieliski said the village has been offering a “premium service” from village employees, including the SRO and K9. He said more outside revenue is needed so the village taxpayers aren’t unfairly burdened with so many costs.

Bieliski said he wished the $82,500 from the school district towards each school resource officer was closer to covering the full cost to the village of about $125,000 to $130,000 for each one.

“I wish it was $82,500,” he said. “The we would could hire five more.”

The total cost includes salaries, overtime, health insurance and other benefits and training expenses. The two SROs will return to the Medina PD in road patrol, bringing the department to near full strength. One other officer is currently in the academy and another is doing field training.

Bieliski said he has deep appreciation for the village employees, and didn’t want them to feel the budget was a sign they weren’t valued and respected by the board and community.

“This community does appreciate you,” he said.

Resident Tim Zeiner said taxes have climbed in the Medina community over the past decade. He worries about paying for all of the needs in the village, including infrastructure, sidewalks, police, fire protection and other services. He said putting more of the costs on village taxpayers isn’t the answer.

The budget was approved by the board in a  5-0 vote. Trustee Jess Marciano said the budget was the most difficult of the five she has been part of on the board.

“We understand what we have to do,” she said. “The taxes are high but the services are important, too. Some of these cuts are close to the bone.”

Mayor Sherman said the board was able to avoid layoffs in the budget. She said the board spent 45 hours in meetings working on the spending plan – “hammering out this budget.”

She acknowledged there were “heated discussions” to work out a plan that would keep services without taxes taking a big increase.

“We’re doing this for the taxpayers,” Sherman said.

Trustee Deborah Padoleski said she values the village services, but ultimately Medina needs more outside funds to make the budget work for village taxpayers. She said Medina’s “hands are tied” by union contracts.

Village resident David Berry praises the Village Board for a budget with a very small tax increase. Berry said rising taxes in the community are putting pressure on residents, especially seniors on fixed incomes. “This board deserves a big round of applause for what they did for us,” Berry said.

Steve Miller, a Medina firefighter and president of the union, said a higher Medicaid reimbursement rate would make a big difference for the village. The fire department bills out about $4 million for ambulance calls, but only receives about $1.3 to $1.4 million. Miller said very low Medicaid reimbursement rates is the biggest culprit.

He urged Village Board members to press state officials to raise those rates.

Miller also said the village receives far too little in the local sales tax. The state gets 4 cents on the dollar while the county gets the other 4 cents. The local share added up to $23.4 million in 2024.

The County Legislature shares $1,366,671 with the 10 towns and four villages – the same amount they have received since 2001. Since then the total sales tax has more than doubled.

“Right now we get a small amount (of the sales tax),” Miller said during the village meeting. “Even a fraction more would make a big difference for the Village of Medina. I think it’s imperative that you continue to push.”