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Public forum set for Poland levies
- Place:Poland Presbyterian Church
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2 Poland Manor, Poland
POLAND
Voters will have the opportunity to ask local government officials questions about three measures they’ll see on the May ballot.
Poland Presbyterian Church invited speakers from the Poland Board of Education, Poland Township and the Western Reserve Joint Fire District to a public forum at 10 a.m. Sunday in the church’s fellowship hall.
The levies are:
4.9-mill emergency levy for Poland schools that would cost $149.65 a year for an owner of a home valued at $100,000.
2-mill renewal levy for Poland Township that costs about $25 a year for an owner of a home valued at $100,000.
1-mill additional fire levy for the Western Reserve Joint Fire District that would cost $30.62 a year for an owner of a home valued at $100,000.
The school district already has had four town-hall meetings and will have its final town-hall meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Poland Seminary High School on Dobbins Road.
The school levy has understandably been in the spotlight of election discussions, said fire Chief David Comstock Jr.
“The school [district] is talking about an operating levy, and they’re faced with critical cutbacks,” from the state, he said, adding “If they don’t get this passed, they will have to make some drastic measures.”
The additional fire levy, Comstock said, will be earmarked for capital improvements, if passed. The projects include repairing the district’s three fire stations and replacing aging equipment such as a 1983 fire engine and 1975 back-up engine.
“Some people ask ‘Why now?’ and I say, if they spend a little bit now, we won’t have to put on a 4- or 5-mill levy when equipment is breaking down,” Comstock asked, noting the average cost of a fire engine is more than $400,000.
The Western Reserve Joint Fire District serves Poland Township and village.
Two township trustees will attend the meeting to discuss the 2-mill levy renewal, originally passed in 1978.
That levy currently is valued at 0.59144 mill, generating $193,296 annually and costing the owner of a home valued at $100,000 about $25 annually, said fiscal officer Joseph Granitto.