Trustees approve levy termination

Staff report

Liberty

Township trustees approved during Wednesday’s special meeting the termination of the 1.25-mill 911 levy that funds the local dispatch center.

The tax no longer will be collected beginning in 2013.

The vote was the last measure required to solidify the shift of dispatching responsibilities from the local 911 center to the Trumbull County 911 Center in Howland.

“This is probably the first time a township has given taxes back to the people and bettered service,” said Trustee Jason Rubin after the vote.

Liberty residents will not “be double-taxed anymore,” said Trustee Jodi Stoyak in reference to taxes Trumbull County already levies on cellphones for the county 911 center.

The trustees earlier in April voted to place a 0.45-mill levy on the Nov-ember ballot to pay the annual $84,735 cost to Trumbull County for 911 service. If approved by voters, it would bring in $94,000 annually and cost a household worth $100,000 about $15 a year.

The dispatching will move to the Trumbull County 911 Center in Howland once a date to move Liberty’s 911 equipment to the county is finalized.