SALEM — City council reviewed more than 70 pieces of new legislation in 2025.

Council considered 77 pieces of legislation in 2025, a decrease from last year’s high total of 95, but more than the 71 pieces of legislation considered in 2023.

Despite the overall decrease, council entered 2025 working with two pieces of legislation passed in its first meeting of the year on Jan. 7, 2025 — one ordinance and one resolution — and continued to work through the year’s end with six new items — three ordinances and three resolutions — approved in its final meeting of the year on Dec. 16.

Council also eschewed its typical recess during the month of August, meeting through the month to review and approve several financial matters including submitting the city tax budget to the county auditor’s office, adjustments to the city’s wage ordinances, and accepting the annexation of the 67.3258 acre property on Whinnery Road which is set to be the home of the Salem City School District’s new K-8 school building.

Of the 77 pieces of legislation reviewed in 2025, all but two were ultimately approved. Resolution 250610-36 was sent back to the Committee of the Whole for further discussion in council’s June 10 meeting, while resolution 250701-40 was tabled in its July 1 meeting.

Discussed in a July 1 meeting of the finance committee, resolution 250701-40 would have established a special project fund to act as a pool of funds to use for specifically designated city projects without needing to be appropriated from the city’s general fund. This pool would have been developed from irregular revenue sources that weren’t part of the city’s regular revenue streams like donations and utility program signing bonuses. The resolution ultimately died for lack of a motion to send it back to the city council from the committee level.

First discussed in council’s June 10 meeting, resolution 250610-36 would have placed the question of whether to permit a marijuana dispensary within city limits on the ballot in November for Salem residents to vote on.

At that meeting Councilman Ron Zellers made a motion to suspend council rules so the resolution could be discussed by council without being discussed at the committee level first. However, every member of council except himself voted against the motion, meaning that it could not be formally presented for council consideration, and no vote could be taken for passage.

Instead, Councilman Andrew Null motioned to refer the resolution to the committee of the whole for further discussion prior to an official council vote, which was unanimously approved. When the committee met to discuss the matter on July 8, the committee ultimately concluded that there were too many questions still unanswered to move forward with a final decision, with the resolution dying for lack of a motion to send it back to the city council from the committee level.

Some notable legislation approved in 2025 included: multiple updates to the city’s animal ordinance, which have created an official, but volunteer staffed, city trap, neuter, return program a new Animal Control Officer position, and implemented licensing fees for any animal other than a dog, which the ordinance already explicitly required be licensed; a resolution authorizing the police department to charge fees for the processing and redaction of video footage from body cameras, dashboard cameras and jail surveillance camera systems as contemplated in House Bill 315; the purchase of the property located between Lincoln Plaza and the Salem Memorial Building where the former Red Barn building, which most recently housed Josie’s Pizza stood using $450,000 donated specifically for the purchase by an anonymous donor; the submission of an application to the Railroad Crossing Elimination Grant Program for potential funding for the construction of an overpass over the railroad crossing on South Lincoln Avenue.

The city council had several matters to conclude from 2024 as it entered 2025 including finalizing the process of placing the renewal of the city’s 1-mill operational levy on the ballot in the general election in November. All those issues were addressed last year with the exception of a proposed intergovernmental agreement between the city of Salem and Perry Township to establish terms to govern property annexations, and the sharing of tax revenue from annexed properties which will still need to be resolved in 2026.

In the city council’s final meeting of the year Mayor Cyndi Baronzzi Dickey said she was still waiting to receive a date when the Perry Township trustees could meet with the city council in a joint session to further discuss, and potentially begin the process of adopting the agreement, which is hoped to conclude disputes over property annexations between the two municipalities which have been ongoing since June of 2023.

The city council will meet next at 7 p.m. on Jan 20.

mahart@mojonews.com