LIBERTY $4.8M replacement levy for police to be on ballot

The levy would generate about a $1 million a year for the police department.
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
LIBERTY -- With a 2-1 vote, township trustees placed a 4.8-mill replacement police levy on the March ballot.
The levy would replace two police levies, one at 2 mills, the other at 2.8 mills, which have been in place since 1981, said John E. Fusco, township clerk. The levy would pay for salaries and benefits, as well as the purchase and maintenance of police vehicles.
Voting in favor of the levy Monday were Trustees Jack Simon and Patrick F. Durina. Trustee Chairman W. Gary Litch voted against it.
"I didn't want to have the taxpayers have another burden of paying additional taxes," Litch said, adding that he wanted to give the incoming trustee Jodi K. Stoyak a chance to participate in the decision.
Stoyak unseated Durina in last month's election. She takes office Jan. 1, and the filing deadline for the March ballot is Jan. 3.
Police Chief Anthony Slifka said the replacement levy is needed to fund adequate police protection and to maintain property values in a community that borders Youngstown, where the crime rate is high. He cited a study of FBI crime statistics released last week, which ranked Youngstown 48th on the list of most dangerous cities in the nation.
"Property values in Liberty will drop if the police presence is not there," Slifka said.
Projected deficits
Simon said, and Slifka confirmed, the police department faces projected deficits of $40,000 this year and $74,000 next year. Although it has an authorized strength of 24 officers, it now only has 21, Slifka said.
An officer who retired, another who resigned and yet another on workers' compensation have not been replaced, Sifka said. Three police cars are now inoperable, and some others have well over 100,000 miles, he added. If the replacement levy fails, some officers will likely have to be laid off, Slifka said.
If the replacement levy passes, it would generate about $1 million a year for the department, Slifka said. The current two levies bring in about $725,000 combined, or about $151,000 per mill; the replacement would bring in about $220,000 per mill, Fusco said.
A citizen advisory committee concluded in the mid-1990s that the township police department should have 18 officers, Litch said. Since then, the township, whose population has hovered at about 13,000, has experienced almost no growth, he said.
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