Westlake Mayor Clough Delivers 33rd State of the City Address

Westlake Mayor Dennis Clough delivered his 33rd State of the City address before more than 200 guests at Carrabba’s Italian Grill on Sperry Road Tues., March 13.

Taking the helm as Mayor of Westlake back in 1986, Mayor Clough has led Westlake on an incredible run of growth and success as the semi-rural community of the mid-20th Century has grown to become a regional leader and the hub of Cuyahoga County’s West Shore.

In 1986, Westlake had a general fund balance of $969,000. In 2017, it had grown to $35,901,900!

Westlake, said Mayor Clough, has stayed true to its mission of enhancing “the quality of life for all residents by providing the highest level of services in an efficient and cost effective manner.”

One of the ways Westlake maintains that quality is by keeping taxes and resident costs low while growing the community’s tax base by welcoming high quality business entities like Crocker Park, American Greetings, Q-Lab and Hyland Software. Creating a community environment that opens the door to top notch enterprises softens resident costs through the economic support of these presences.

As a result, Mayor Clough’s objectives of keeping property taxes and income taxes low while also keeping a lid on infrastructure costs like sewer rates is a reality. Westlake costs to residents in all these categories are low as compared to surrounding communities (See link to Slide Show below for charts).

For 2018, residents can look forward to more quality of life enhancements:

• A new Aquatics Center at Clague Park will include a 4,600 sq. ft. Bath House, Activity Pool with Interactive Water Feature, Lazy River with Sprays and Jets, Lap Pool with Diving Well Extension with Climbing Wall and a New Plunge Pool. Estimated Completion is May, 2019.
• A new 25,860 sq. ft. Community Center will be built near the tennis courts at the Westlake Recreation Center. Estimated Completion is September, 2020.

Other Recreation improvements will come to Bradley Road Sports Park, the Clague Playhouse Baseball Complex, C4/C5 Premiere Ball Diamonds, as well as Recreation Center Ballfield Improvements, Bradley Nature Park Improvements and a Recreation Center Gym Addition.

Water

Westlake will continue to look into options for Water Suppliers. Possible future suppliers include Cleveland Water, Avon Lake Water, and Elyria/North Ridgeville Water.

Westlake Facts

• Westlake’s assessed valuations are almost one and a half trillion dollars, at $1,450,987,600 for 2018!
• The Service Department received and completed 8,598 calls in 2017 and cleaned 10.2 miles of storm and sanitary sewers.
• The Community Service Department provided 7,755 rides to residents;
• Fire and EMS calls dispatched by Westcom amounted to 16,149.
• Westlake Police received 38,666 calls for service, and made 4,874 arrests. There were 758 motor vehicle accidents in 2017.

Please visit Mayor’s Clough’s 2018 State of the City Slide Show here: www.cityofwestlake.org/DocumentCenter/View/1701.

You will find comprehensive reports on Westlake property tax rates, sewer rates and other expenses as compared to other communities.

Click here to view entire gallery.