Austintown trustees OK levy issue for March ballot

AUSTINTOWN -- Township trustees voted unanimously Wednesday to place a 2.5-mill levy for the police department on the March ballot that would raise about $1.4 million annually.
Township officials have said the levy is needed because the township is facing a deficit. Several budget cuts have been made, and two police officers and seven part-time firefighters have been laid off.
The same levy appeared on the November ballot but failed by about 900 votes.
Trustee David Ditzler has said he will vote to remove it from the ballot next month if it does not have the support of Trustee-elect Lisa Oles.
Oles takes office in January; she has said she won't support the levy until she believes she can tell township residents the money is needed.
Trustee Bo Pritchard had said he would vote to place the levy on the ballot only if it had Oles' support. He said Wednesday he changed his mind because he was worried residents would mistakenly think he voted "no" because he didn't support the levy.
Pritchard also said he spoke to the Mahoning County Board of Elections and confirmed that trustees could still remove the levy from the ballot before the election.
Trustees have until Feb. 2 to tell the board of elections to remove the levy from the ballot.