The Adobe Flash Player is required to view this multimedia interactive. Get it here.

What are the main local issues on the November ballot?

New pool at 'The Heights' opens
5/27/12
Huber Heights suing consultant for more than $50,000
5/26/12
4 arrested for OVI at Kettering checkpoint
5/26/12
Man found dead at bar; police seek suspect
5/26/12
Turner adopts role for Romney campaign
5/26/12
> More headlines

Staff reports Updated 12:56 PM Thursday, September 3, 2009

Five Rivers MetroParks is seeking a 10-year replacement levy in November that should generate a maximum of $17.9 million annually for the life of the levy.

It will cost the owner of a home valued at $100,000 an estimated $55.13 per year.

That’s about $10 more per year than Montgomery County homeowners are paying now for the parks, said Charlie Shoemaker, MetroParks executive director. But since 2000, the parks agency has made significant improvements and acquisitions, including downtown Dayton’s RiverScape, the addition of 3,700 conservation acres, an overhaul of the Hills and Dales park and the addition of extensive bike trail mileage that will eventually connect Wright Patterson Air Force Base to the system.

Elsewhere in Montgomery County, Trotwood voters will decide more levies than any other city. The issues there include renewal of a 2-mill levy for ambulance service; a new 2-mill levy for fire equipment and ambulances; a new five-year 1-mill levy for road maintenance; a new 1-mill levy for public works expenses, including reinstituting leaf pickup; and a new 7.5-mill operating levy for Trotwood-Madison schools.

Greene County

Xenia Community Schools are asking voters a third time to approve a bond request to raise the local match so the district can participate in the Ohio School Facilities Commission. The agency helps districts renovate and replace aging buildings with money from the state’s tobacco settlement.

At 3.2 mills to raise $34.6 million, Xenia’s request is much smaller than the past two that were easily defeated by voters. The new $60 million plan is to replace five elementary schools and will cost $98 annually for every $100,000 of property value.

Beavercreek voters will see a 1-mill renewal of permanent school improvement levy, a 2-mill fire levy and half mill road and bridge levy.

Sugarcreek voters will decided a 2 mill renewal of a police levy to raise $679,000 annually and a request about limited home rule for township residents.

Countywide, voters will see three levies: a renewal request to support the library with $3.2 million annually, a replacement an increase totaling 1 mill for senior citizens that will raise $3.6 million and the renewal of a 1.5 mill mental health levy that will raise $4 million annually.

Warren County

State budget cuts and tough financial times are forcing many area libraries, including those in the village of Waynesville and Lebanon, as well as the village to turn to voters for support.

Both, the Mary L. Cook Public Library at 381 Old Stage Road in Waynesville and the Lebanon Public Library at 101 S. Broadway in Lebanon are asking voters in November to pass a 1-mill levy to help with operations.

The libraries already have made cuts to staff, staff hours, materials and hours of operation and have had to increase charges and begun charging for some materials that previously were free.

Without passage of the levies, both libraries stand to face deeper cuts on all of those fronts, as well as programs they offer in partnership to area schools and communities.

Julie Florence, director of the Lebanon library, has said the downtown Lebanon library may even face closure if the levy fails.

In Waynesville, library Director Linda Swartzel said the library is a vital part of after-school programs, particularly for children whose parents are still at work when school lets out, as well as being the only nearby facility to have DVDs available.

Swartzel said the Wayne Local School District Board of Education is the legislative body for the library but not a recipient of any money generated by the levy, if it passes.

“It’s important for people to understand, they’re not voting on another school levy,” she said.

As part of the village of Waynesville’s financial recovery plan, the village will have on the fall ballot a 1 percent earnings tax issue.

The 1 percent tax would be on earned income only, not on other income, such as Social Security, and would be 100 percent paid by other municipalities in which Waynesville residents work, said Staci Morris, village finance director.

The tax is estimated to bring in about $178,000 annually if voters pass it. Eighty percent of money from the earnings tax would be used to pay down deficit funds, with the remaining 20 percent going toward the general fund for operations, officials said.

Miami County

Miami County voters will be asked to approve additional tax dollars for the county park district and a bond issue to update the 35-year-old Upper Valley JVS in Piqua

The Miami County Park District is seeking a 1.1-mill, 10-year replacement levy for operations. The current levy, approved in 2001, generates around $2.1 million a year. The replacement levy would bring in another $200,000 per year, and cost the owner of a house with $100,000 value, $6.88 more per year.

“We, of course, understand the economic circumstances and this levy allows the district to sustain current operations yet not without reductions,” Jerry Eldred, park district executive director, said.

1 | 2 next page »

Share this article