Highland Heights was on track for a projected $2 million deficit in 2026 before voters approved a 5.9-mill safety services levy last year, and Mayor Chuck Brunello Jr. says that single decision reshaped the city's financial outlook for years to come. Brunello delivered the news Thursday during his annual state-of-the-city address at Highland Heights City Council chambers, a yearly recap of the previous 12 months that this time carried an unusually high-stakes fiscal message.
According to Cleveland.com, the city's income tax revenue was down roughly $136,000, and just a month earlier it had been down $240,000 for the year — making Highland Heights the only municipality in the region to see income tax revenue decline. Without the levy, city department personnel reductions were imminent, and the mayor said passage of the measure allowed Highland Heights to preserve its expected level of police officers, firefighters and EMS staffing.
How the Levy Numbers Add Up
The 5.9-mill safety services levy, passed by Highland Heights residents in 2025, is expected to generate approximately $3.1 million, with proceeds earmarked specifically for police, fire and EMS services. That levy increase helped offset a $2 million gap between 2025 spending and revenues, and Brunello now expects a budget surplus in both 2026 and the years that follow. The city closed out with a $5.9 million surplus, and the mayor said the levy would make future financial problems less painful going forward. Notably, the report notes Highland Heights' safety levy carries the second-lowest millage rate among neighboring communities.
Safety force costs consume 60 percent of Highland Heights' annual budget each year, a figure that helps explain why the city leaned so heavily on the new levy rather than general property tax revenue. Highland Heights imposes a 2.0% municipal income tax on gross payroll and net business profits, administered by the Regional Income Tax Agency, but residents get a 100% credit up to 2.0% for taxes paid where they work. That structure leaves the city's net revenue unusually dependent on commercial activity happening within its own borders rather than where residents commute.
Why an Aging Population Strains Emergency Response
Highland Heights safety services calls have increased as the population ages, and the numbers back that up: the city's median age is 44.9 years, roughly 10% higher than both Cuyahoga County's 40.4 and Ohio's 39.7, according to Census Reporter. The Highland Heights Fire Department answered 2,041 calls in 2025, and four elderly care facilities alone contributed 595 of those fire-department calls over the past year. Nearly one-third of the time, calls from those elderly care facilities occurred during another incident already underway, according to the mayor's recap.
The fire department currently has 22 full-time and six part-time members, and it holds a Public Protection Classification rating of two from the Insurance Services Office, a scale on which fewer than 75 departments statewide are rated one or two. A Class 2 rating ranks among the nation's top-performing fire departments and helps lower commercial and residential property insurance rates, per fire department benchmarking data.
The Highland Heights Police Department also notched a milestone this year, retaining its accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies and earning its third CALEA certificate overall. CALEA accreditation requires departments to comply with hundreds of national best-practice standards and undergo a comprehensive reassessment every four years, according to accreditation guidance — meaning the department's current certificate will carry it through the next four-year cycle.
Alpha Drive's Shift From Offices to Auto Sales
Away from public safety, the mayor's address also touched on redevelopment along the Alpha Drive business corridor. Nick Mayer, who owns the property at 625 Alpha Drive and whose Ford and Lincoln dealerships currently sit at 6200 Mayfield Road in Mayfield Heights, first had plans reported in October 2024 to build a new dealership on the Highland Heights site. The property, previously home to a 77,000-square-foot office building owned by Progressive Direct Insurance Company, saw demolition plans approved by the city's Planning and Zoning Commission that same month.
The site has now been cleared for construction, though the dealership plan still requires completion of planning and permitting before ground can be broken. The transition from corporate office space to retail auto sales along Alpha Drive matters for city finances given how dependent Highland Heights is on local commercial activity for net income tax revenue.
Staff Turnover and a Winter Deer Cull
The mayor's recap also marked personnel changes in city hall. Finance Director Joseph Filippo retired at the end of 2025 after 13 years in the role, and James Smith was hired this year as his replacement. Longtime city employee Mary Velotta retired on October 31, 2025, after serving Highland Heights for more than 45 years under five different mayors.
On the wildlife management front, Highland Heights resumed its deer culling program in December and worked with AD Wildlife Solutions, a licensed nuisance wildlife control business based in Southington, Ohio, to carry out the effort. The city culled 50 deer in January and donated 41 of them to the Geauga County Veteran Food Bank. Officials say the culling program will continue into the next season.
The mayor's address arrives roughly seven months after Brunello called for tighter nuisance rules following a juvenile overcrowding disturbance at Sky Zone Trampoline Park that led to an arrest and temporary closures at neighboring businesses. That episode had already put a spotlight on the strain public safety resources face in Highland Heights, a city of roughly 8,623 residents with a median household income of $122,863, according to U.S. Census Bureau data — context that helps explain why residents identified public safety and road conditions as top priorities in a spring 2025 community survey conducted by the mayor and City Council ahead of the levy vote.
