MAHONING COUNTY Levies and bonds vie for approval

Austintown residents will consider three new tax proposals on the ballot.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Residents in four Mahoning County school districts and two townships will have to dig a little deeper into their pockets if voters approve new tax issues next month.
Residents of Austintown will see three tax issues -- a new township tax proposal, as well as a new school tax levy and bond issue -- on the Nov. 4 ballot.
The township is seeking support for a 2.5-mill tax levy to raise $1,415,668 annually for police services. The school district is asking for a 5.9-mill, five-year levy to raise $3,293,339 annually for operating expenses and a 2.9-mill, 27-year bond issue to borrow $26 million for the construction of a new school to replace Austintown Middle School.
If all three are approved, a family with a home in Austintown valued at $100,000 would pay about $280 more a year in taxes.
Township officials say the 2.5-mill levy is needed because of increases in the cost of wages, insurance and workers' compensation and decreases in revenue, leaving the budget about $1.2 million in deficit.
Austintown school officials say cuts in state funding, an unexpected tax refund it had to pay to Phar-Mor last year and a decline in personal property tax revenue is forcing the district to seek the tax increase. As for the loan, school officials say the 87-year-old Austintown Middle School is in deplorable condition and needs to be replaced.
Measures elsewhere
Other new tax levies on the Nov. 4 ballot include:
UA 6.8-mill, 5-year levy in the Sebring school district to raise $350,000 annually for emergency expenses.
UA 4-mill, 5-year levy in the Western Reserve school district to raise $300,000 annually for emergency expenses.
UA 2-mill levy for an indefinite time period in Milton Township for police services to raise $102,284 annually.
UA 1-mill, 5-year levy in the Jackson-Milton school district for permanent improvements to raise $140,298 annually.
Mahoning County residents will vote on a 0.85-mill, five-year replacement levy to fund the county mental-health board. The replacement levy would raise $3.2 million annually. The current mental-health levy, which expires at the end of 2004, raises $1.8 million annually.
The other replacement levy on the November ballot is in Goshen Township, where a 2-mill levy for an indefinite time period will be considered. The levy would raise $95,352 annually for fire services.
There are four levies up for renewal in Boardman: a 0.3-mill levy for roads and bridges that raises $133,190 annually; a 3.2-mill levy for current expenses that raises $1,420,699 a year; a 0.3-mill levy for park services that raises $237,700 annually; and a 2.3-mill school levy for emergency expenses that raises $1.9 million a year.
Also, residents in Springfield, Smith, and Beloit will consider renewal levies, and those living in Campbell will vote on the continuation of a 1-percent income tax for parks and municipal operations.
skolnick@vindy.com