Regardless, Tuesday is the day to cast our votes on school, township and village issues, and everyone in the region will have at least one decision to make, thanks to a statewide issue.
Issue 2
All Ohio voters will decide Tuesday whether the state should continue investing public money on local-level infrastructure projects, via Issue 2.
If approved, the constitutional amendment would continue a program that’s been in place since 1987, approved by voters each time it has come up.
It would allocate up to $2.5 billion over the next 10 years for work on roads, bridges, water and sewer facilities, according to the state legislature’s nonpartisan analysis.
Ohio Public Works Commission Director Linda Bailiff said over 18,000 important projects across the state have been funded this way since the program’s inception, adding that the state money usually helps to leverage additional local or federal money to get projects done.
There has been limited opposition to the proposal. The “argument against” Issue 2 that’s required to be posted on the Ohio Secretary of State’s website was “prepared by the Ohio Ballot Board in the absence of any submission in opposition.”
Southwestern Clark County
Here’s where the ballot is busy — school tax levies for Tecumseh and Greenon, public safety tax requests in Enon and Mad River Twp., a key income tax vote in New Carlisle, plus three proposed city charter changes there, too.
Some of the tax requests are renewal levies, which extend existing tax rates further into the future without a rate increase. Others are additional levies, which would raise residents’ taxes.
The two groups seeking additional levies are the Greenon school district, for facilities work, and Enon village, for police services.
* Greenon’s levy request is a 5-year, 2.78-mill tax that would cost a homeowner $97 annually per $100,000 of property value. It would pay to build a new transportation facility and athletic multipurpose room, and to complete the unfinished parts of the K-6 school building, along with a few smaller projects. Residents soundly rejected a similar levy in November.
* Enon’s police levy is a 5-year, 1.75-mill tax request that would cost property owners $61 a year for each $100,000 of appraised value. Residents had been paying that much in past years, but Mayor Timothy Howard acknowledged the village’s original plans to renew the tax “slipped through the cracks” so the levy expired. If the levy passes, it would pay for standard costs such as officer salaries and benefits, vehicles, communications costs and more.
* The other public safety tax request in southwest Clark County is Mad River Twp.’s basic levy for fire/EMS funding. The township’s levy is a straight renewal of an existing 0.8-mill tax, for another five years.
Voters in the New Carlisle/Tecumseh schools area have plenty on the ballot, but nothing that would increase tax rates.
* Tecumseh schools voters rejected a substitute levy in November that would have combined two taxes. As a result, the school district changed course and for now is asking voters to simply renew one of the two levies, a 5-year, 7-mill tax for daily operating expenses. Tecumseh voters haven’t approved a new local tax levy for additional operating funding since 1995.
* In the city of New Carlisle, voters will also decide on a renewal levy, in this case the continuation of a 0.5% income tax for another five years. This tax pays for police services, and if it is not approved, the tax will expire in July. That would force the city to use general fund dollars to pay for policing by the end of the year, potentially taking away from other city services.
* New Carlisle voters will also decide on three changes to the city charter — section 5.02, clarifying resolution vs. ordinance of council; section 9.01, addressing a change to candidate petitions; and section 6.05-6.06, on the city manager’s role in hiring or firing administrators.
More school ballot issues
Tecumseh and Greenon are not the only local school districts with tax levy requests on Tuesday’s ballot.
* For the first time, Clark-Shawnee schools are asking residents to approve a school income tax — specifically a 5-year, 1% tax on earned income, to pay for day-to-day school operating expenses. As of last summer, Clark-Shawnee had the lowest cash balance of any school district in Clark County (as a percentage of expenses) and had already approved budget cuts. School officials suggested some residents may prefer this type of tax rather than another property tax levy.
* Graham schools are also seeking a new 5-year, 1% tax on earned income, but their request is not new — voters overwhelmingly rejected it in November. A 1% tax would cost someone with $50,000 in taxable income $500 per year. Superintendent Chad Lensman said levy passage would allow Graham to stabilize its budget and protect class sizes, while preserving extracurricular opportunities without further cuts.
* Northeastern schools are asking voters to renew an existing 1% school income tax for another 10 years, to pay for regular school operating expenses. Renewal levies usually pass, but in November, Northeastern voters rejected this same renewal levy by a 15% margin — 57.3% no and 42.7% yes.
The rest of the ballot
* Pleasant Twp. in northeastern Clark County is asking voters to approve a new five-year, 2-mill tax levy for fire and EMS services. Fire Chief Mike Willis said revenue has stayed flat, while costs are increasing, from fuel to equipment, as well as trying to keep competitive wages. A new 2-mill levy would cost a homeowner $70 annually per $100,000 of property value.
* Madison Twp. in southeast Clark County has a tax levy on the ballot to pay for EMS services. Madison’s levy is a straight renewal of existing taxes — 2.5 mills of property tax for another five years.
* While most of this election is tax levy votes, Champaign County has the area’s only candidate race for office. Republicans Kevin Talebi and Gregory Harvey are squaring off to see which of them will earn a six-year term as county municipal court judge. Talebi is currently the county prosecutor, while Harvey is a court magistrate and local attorney. Because there is no Democratic challenger, Tuesday’s winner will replace Municipal Court Judge Gil Weithman when he retires at the end of the year.
* Elsewhere in Champaign County, there are several tax levy renewal requests — Mechanicsburg and Triad schools to pay for day-to-day operating expenses, St. Paris village and Johnson Twp. both for road repairs, and Rush Twp. for cemetery operations. The only new tax levy in Champaign County, other than Graham schools, is Goshen Twp., which is asking voters to approve an extra 4 mills to pay for fire and EMS services over the next five years.
Local liquor options
The final items on the ballot are “local option” votes, which usually determine whether a business can sell alcohol at certain times and under certain conditions.
* The lone ballot issue in Springfield proper allows voters in Springfield city precinct 1 (southeast side) to decide whether Reid Park Golf Course should be allowed to sell wine, mixed beverages and spirituous liquor on Sundays.
* There are two local options for Clark County’s Pike Twp. precinct 2 voters to decide, related to the North Hampton Mini Mart at Ohio 41 and Martin Drive. One would allow the basic sale of beer, wine and mixed beverages, while the other would allow the same on Sundays.
* The only Champaign County local option asks certain Rush Twp. voters whether a Poor Boys Kwik Stock store at 102 S. Main St. in the village of Woodstock should be allowed to sell wine and mixed beverages on Sundays.
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