2,000 cast early ballots on Boardman levy; polls open 6:30 a.m. Tuesday

By Ashley Luthern

aluthern@vindy.com

BOARDMAN

Township residents can vote at their polls from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday to decide the fate of an additional police levy.

The 3.85-mill, five-year additional police levy is the only issue Boardman Township voters will see on the special election ballot. The levy would generate about $3.8 million annually designated for the police department and cost the owner of a home valued at $100,000 about $117 annually.

Nearly 2,000 ballots already have been cast, most from mailed-in absentee ballots, said Thomas McCabe, director of the Mahoning County Board of Elections.

“Our prediction is 25 to 30 percent turnout” of registered voters, McCabe said.

Township trustees have said that if the levy is approved, they would like to hire the following positions over the next two years: 10 additional police officers, one diversion specialist, one advocate, one crime analyst, one secretary, two records clerks and two dispatchers.

A five-year budget forecast from the police department that accounts for employee salary and benefits and the yearly increases in pay puts the average cost of those additions per year at about $1.4 million.

Read the full story Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com.