Bus, School, fire levies on ballot

STAFF REPORT

YOUNGSTOWN — Mahoning Valley voters will see some familiar issues on their Nov. 4 ballots.

The Western Reserve Transit Authority’s 0.25-percent sales tax, which was on the ballot back in March, is back. The tax would last for five years and raise about $7 million annually for WRTA.

If passed the dollars generated would help increase the WRTA’s transportation coverage and, according to Vindicator files, Jim Ferraro, WRTA executive director, said the trend is that more and more Valley residents are in need of public transportation.

The sales tax also would also enable the transit authority to initiate additional services such as small-bus door-to-door services, community circulators and cross-town buses located in the suburbs.

“The Valley will become better with transportation throughout,” Michael Bosela, WRTA board president, said in a previous newspaper story.

The levy failed in March, with 39,484 people voting for the levy and 51,337 against, according to the Mahoning County Board of Elections.

Although the 9.5-mill, four-year levy proposed by Youngstown city schools has been turned down three times in the past, it will appear once again in November.

If passed, the levy would raise about $5.3 million annually.

The school district has been in a state-designated fiscal emergency since November 2006.

Jackson-Milton school officials have placed two issues on the fall ballot. The first is for a 0.9-mill, five-year levy for the ongoing permanent improvements of the district, and the second is a 5.5-mill, five-year levy for emergency purposes.

At the beginning of the month the 5.5-mill renewal levy was defeated in a special election by 60 votes.

In Trumbull County, Newton Falls voters will be asked to decide on 12 charter amendments organized into three ballot issues.

One would eliminate term limits for the mayor and council members, increase the mayor’s salary from $4,800 to $6,600 and council members’ salaries from $3,600 to $5,400, and elect all council members to at-large positions instead of some representing a ward.

Another would require the city manager to submit to council a budget no later than Nov. 15 of each year to be adopted by council before Dec. 31.

And the third would eliminate the civil service commission and change the park and recreation board from an advisory board to a general policy board.

The Mathews school district has a replacement levy on the ballot.

Replacement levies are ones in which the millage remains the same, but the levies collect more money because property values have risen since the levies were originally approved.

Replacement levies do not increase the mills but they increase the money generated. Local property tax rates are always computed in mills.

But since the school district is reducing the millage, it would not get the full benefit of the increased property values.

The five-year levy last time was for 9.76 mills but is being reduced to 9.25 mills this time. The levy, which is for current expenses of the district, will raise $1,356,166 annually if approved.

The new replacement levy would raise $33,525 per year more than the previous levy, which raised $1,322,641 annually, the Trumbull County Board of Elections says.

In Hubbard, the Eagle Joint Fire District, formed at the start of this year, is asking voters to approve a 1.2-mill, continuous levy to fund the department serving Hubbard and Hubbard Township.

Hubbard Township Trustee Joe Gleydura said if the levy passes, the city will eliminate the 0.9-mill levy it currently collects for fire protection, and the township will eliminate the 1.25-mill levy it collects for fire protection.

The two current levies bring in about $140,000 per year, and the new levy will raise $253,375 annually. Gleydura said the additional money will be used to purchase fire engines.