Wednesday, August 7, 2019
YOUNGSTOWN
Mahoning County voters will consider 14 proposed tax issues while Trumbull County will have 22 during the Nov. 5 election.
One issue that failed to make the ballot is a Youngstown school 10.7-mill, four-year renewal levy to raise $5,291,410 annually.
The school board met Wednesday afternoon for a required vote to get the issue on the fall ballot, but because it couldn’t get a majority vote it won’t appear.
Four of seven members attended the meeting with president Brenda Kimble and vice president Michael Murphy voting yes and Jackie Adair and Dario Hunter voting no.
Wednesday was the deadline in Ohio for issues and nonpartisan candidates to file with county boards of elections.
Murphy, who’s not seeking re-election to the board after serving for 12 years, brushed off the failure to get the tax levy on the ballot.
“It will be alright as there will be enough time to get it on the ballot next year,” he said.
The current levy doesn’t expire until the beginning of 2021, he added.
In a statement, Hunter said: “We are a city in poor financial circumstances, not just at City Hall but around family dinner tables all across the city. I cannot in good conscience ask the citizens of this city to aid and abet the financial mismanagement of the Youngstown City School District ...”
There are competitive trustee races in half of the county’s 14 townships, including Austintown, where Valley radio talk show host Ron Verb has filed.
Read more about the election in Thursday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.