Township police, fire and other officials keep busy serving people who ’’don’t pay a dime’’ in direct taxes to the community, said Donnellon. However, the township must provide them with services, he said. ’’If someone has a heart attack, we are not going to say, ’You are from Kenwood, so we are not going to help you,’ ’’ said Mrs. Walker. To keep abreast of needs, new police officers and firefighters are continually being hired. Three years ago, the police department had 38 employees. Today it has 45. Six more employees will be hired soon, said Geis. Three years ago the fire department had 15 employees; it now has 25 and will soon be expanded to 30, Geis said. Hiring new employees squeezes the community coffers. If workers paid income taxes, and shoppers paid sales taxes directly to the township, it would help ease budget constraints, officials say. However, Ohio law prohibits townships -- though not cities -- from levying income or sales taxes. Because of tight budgets, Union Township firefighters built a firehouse virtually by themselves in Willowville. Mrs. Walker says her township is as large as a city, and with many of the same problems, but with fewer resources. The community today has about 35,000 residents, compared to 28,000 in 1980. However motorists, including shoppers and workers, swell the township’s daily population to as many as 250,000. The township’s Eastgate area is one of the busiest retail centers in Greater Cincinnati and its school district, serving 9,100 students, is one of the area’s largest. Millions of dollars in industrial development occurs annually and traffic congestion is probably the township’s worst problem. ’’We have all the responsibilities of a city, but are without any of the financial wherewithal they have,’’ Mrs. Walker said. January 13, 1998 Take another look at stocks, mutual funds and tax-deferred annuities. Your best investment might be an old guitar. Guitars over the years have provided a greater rate of return than many blue chip stocks. A Gibson Les Paul electric guitar that sold for a couple hundred dollars in the late 1950s is worth $50,000 today. Built in the same era and sold at the same price, old Fender Stratocaster electrics today will fetch up to $25,000. Vintage Martin acoustic guitars sell for $45,000. It is a bull market for guitar collectors, and has been for many years, says Mike Reeder, owner of Mike's Music in Corryville next to Bogart's. He says annual returns of 15 and 20 percent are common with some collectible guitars. ''It is a better return than the stock market. Every year, prices have gone up on vintage instruments,'' said Reeder. He has 600 used or vintage guitars in his store and says he has the largest collection in Ohio.
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