Monday, October 20, 2008
By Denise Dick
The proposed Boardman police and fire levy would cost the owner of a $150,000 home about $102 annually.
From mental health and public transportation to natural gas and electric aggregation and police and fire service, Mahoning Valley voters will be asked to approve a variety of issues on next month’s general election ballot.
The Western Reserve Transit Authority is making a second try for a 0.25 percent sales tax. Voters rejected the sales tax in March.
Jim Ferraro, WRTA executive director, said the tax is expected to generate between $7 million and $7.5 million annually.
He said WRTA plans a Dial-A-Ride program that allows people to book rides on shuttle vehicles and smaller vehicles to circulate through communities. “We’re looking at southern Mahoning County — Sebring, Beloit, Goshen, New Middletown,” he said.
The transit authority also wants to restore night and weekend routes.
The agency wants to begin routes in suburban areas such as Struthers, Austintown and along U.S. Route 224 in Boardman. “That’s quickly becoming a medical hotbed for Mahoning County,” Ferraro said.
WRTA has cut routes because of the loss of grants and state and federal dollars.
The county needs public transportation, Ferraro said. It provides a way for people to get to work as well as allows those who are elderly or disabled maintain some independence, he said.
In Boardman, township voters are being asked to approve a five-year, 2.2-mill police and fire levy. The proposed levy would cost the owner of a $150,000 home about $102 per year.
Last November, township voters turned down a 4.1-mill levy for general operating expenses.
Boardman’s proposed levy would generate $2,078,924 annually for the police and fire departments. Last February, after voters rejected a general operating levy, trustees laid off 30 full-time employees including nine full-time firefighters, 12 road department employees and several police civilian personnel. Additionally, 13 police officers who have left township employment through retirement or resignation over the last two years haven’t been replaced.
If the levy passes next month, trustees plan to return six laid-off firefighters and hire between six and 10 police officers. The number of police hired will depend on results of contract negotiations with both police unions, said Jason Loree, township administrator, and new hires will be phased in rather than hired all at once.
“If it doesn’t pass, the trustees will have to consider some organizational changes,” Loree said. “I’m pretty confident, at this point, that there will be no additional layoffs, but there may be some changes in the level of services we provide.”
Mahoning County-wide, the mental health board seeks a 0.85-mill, 5-year renewal levy for current expenses to raise $3,345,550 annually.
Trumbull County residents are being asked to approve a replacement and increase levy for Fairhaven for maintenance and operation of schools, training centers, workshops, clinics and residential facilities for mentally retarded people to raise $7,492,435 annually. The 2.2-mill continuous replacement and increase levy would replace a levy of 1 mill.
Also in Trumbull, voters will decide whether to approve natural gas and electric aggregation.
In Columbiana County, a 1.5-mill, 5-year additional levy to care for abused and neglected children will be before voters. It would raise $2.2 million annually.
SEE ALSO: November General Election Issues.