Austintown to repave some roads this year

Ditzler says the township needs to replace two road department levies.
By IAN HILL
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
AUSTINTOWN -- The smell of hot asphalt will once again be wafting through township neighborhoods this summer as contractors repave township roads for the first time since 2002.
Township Administrator Michael Dockry said The Shelly Co. of Twinsburg could begin repaving a total of about 3.5 miles of township roads next week. The work will cost the township about $200,000.
Township Trustees decided not to repave township roads last year as part of their efforts to save money and avoid a deficit. Before last year, the township paid contractors to repave between 8 and 10 miles of roads annually.
The township maintains a total of 112 miles of road. Trustee Lisa Oles called this summer's re-paving work "a step in the right direction."
License-plate fees
Money for this summer's repaving will come from license-plate fees, Township Clerk Michael Kurish said. He said the township receives about $100,000-$115,000 from the fees every year, and that state law requires the township to use the money for road department supplies or repaving.
Trustees did not spend their license-plate fee revenue last year because they wanted to save enough money to repave some roads this summer, Kurish said.
Oles said she believes repaving roads gives township residents an easy way to see how their tax dollars are being spent.
"I know taxpayers don't want all their money going to [employee] wages and benefits," she said.
Dockry said trustees selected the roads they wanted to repave this year based on recommendations from township employees and Road Superintendent Michael Bertilacci, who retired Friday.
Seeking bids
The township joined with the Mahoning County Engineer's office to seek bids for the repaving. Dockry said the project most likely would have cost the township more if it had not worked with the engineer's office.
Trustee David Ditzler said while he was pleased that some roads could be repaved this year, the township is in danger of falling behind in its road maintenance responsibilities because of a lack of money. He said to keep up with the deterioration of roads, the township should have repaved 20 miles of roads between this summer and last summer, not 3.5 miles of road.
"We're only paving minimal roads" this summer, Ditzler said. "It's not a solution, it's a patch job to keep us going."
He said he believes that to raise money for road repaving, the township should seek to replace two road department levies that are set to expire next year. One of the levies is for 1.5 mills, the other levy is for 1 mill.
Current property values
Replacing the levies would allow the township to collect taxes based on the current value of property in the community. Under state law, the amount of money to be collected through a levy is determined using property values when the levy is first approved by voters.
A township can never collect more than that amount, even if property values increase while the levy is in effect.
The 1.5-mill road department levy was approved in 1976 and has never been replaced; the 1-mill levy was approved in 1981 and has never been replaced.
Kurish has predicted that the township will end this year with a $300,000 surplus, but that it could be facing a deficit again next year.
hill@vindy.com