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Mill Creek MetroParks board weighing levy options for November ballot
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Schiavoni
YOUNGSTOWN
The Mill Creek MetroParks Board of Park Commissioners is considering several options for the levy it plans to put on the November ballot.
Those options, park Treasurer Kevin Smith explained at a meeting Monday, include a renewal of the 15-year, 1.75-mill levy that currently funds the park, a 1.75-mill replacement levy and a 2.0 replacement levy with additional millage.
Although board President Lou Schiavoni said he does not yet know which option the board will pursue, board members Scott Schulick and John Ragan both expressed support for the 2.0-mill replacement levy with additional millage.
“None of us can run our households on 2001 money, and neither can the park. So I’m very supportive of looking at replacement options, because we need to take into account where inflation has been over the last 15 years,” Schulick said.
The park now operates on a 15-year, 1.75-mill levy that generates about $6.5 million annually and costs the owner of a $100,000 home $50.24 per year. That levy is based on 2001 property values and will generate funds through 2016.
“If we went for renewal, we’d really have to tighten our belts and look for some other sources of income,” Schiavoni said.
A renewal would generate the same amount as the levy currently does. A 1.75-mill replacement would generate $381,920 more, and a 2.0-mill replacement with additional would generate $1,368,910 above the current amount.
A replacement levy would cost taxpayers more, since it would be based on 2015 property values.
The park administration has about $29 million just in capital improvements planned for the next several years, Executive Director Aaron Young said.
Schiavoni said he believes taxpayers will be supportive of the levy because of the “awesome” services the park offers, often free of charge.
“We’re very, very hopeful that the public will be supportive and pass this. We’d hate to lose this beauty,” he said.
The board likely will decide at its March meeting which option to put on the ballot, Schiavoni said. The board has until August to finalize its ballot submission.
In other business, the newest member of the Mill Creek MetroParks board, Germaine Bennett, took the oath of office at a meeting Monday night.
Judge Robert Rusu Jr. of Mahoning County Probate Court appointed Bennett, of Youngstown, to the position after Valencia Marrow resigned her seat last month for personal reasons. The three-year term began at the start of 2014.
Bennett is a longtime educator and administrator for Youngstown city schools. She also is involved with many community boards and organizations, such as serving on the board of directors for the Raymond John Wean Foundation and Mercy Health Partners SWO, among others.
She joins four other board members: Schiavoni, Dr. Robert Durick, Ragan and Schulick. Schulick also is a new addition to the board.