Campbell mayor stresses need for levy

Money from the levy is placed in a separate fund for the safety forces.

By WILLIAM K. ALCORN

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

CAMPBELL — “I don’t believe there is a person running for office here who doesn’t feel renewal of the police and fire levy is of vital importance to the city,” Mayor John Dill said.

“It’s a no-brainer.”

The problem, Dill said, is that the ballot language for the Tuesday’s general election says the levy is for “current expenses,” not specifically for police and fire, as it did when the issue was previously on the ballot.

Regardless of the ballot language, Dill wants residents to know that the estimated $200,000 that the 3-mill, five-year levy generates annually is used exclusively for the police and fire departments.

He said the money from the levy is placed in a separate fund for the safety forces, and is divided equally between the police and fire departments: about $100,000 each.

He urged residents to not be confused or put off by the ballot language and to vote for renewal of the levy.

With passage, the city probably would, early in 2008, bring back the one full-time firefighter who is laid off and maintain the safety forces as they are, Dill said.

Without passage of the levy and money it produces, the city would find itself in a “heck of a position,” the mayor said.

Safety forces are funded by the general fund, which will be even tighter than usual with the loss of jobs at General Motors and Delphi Packard and the income tax they represent, he said.

If the levy passes, the city would begin collecting money from it in 2008. If it fails, Dill said the city would have to try again for passage at a special election.

A spokesman for the Mahoning County Board of Elections said the ballot language was created according to state law at the local level, and approved by the state.

Including police and fire in the ballot language is counter to Ohio law and an opinion by the state attorney general, the board of elections spokesman said.

alcorn@vindy.com