The levy would generate $610,000 in revenue, which would only be used for police, fire and EMS.
“We have gone through all other methods to reduce expenses, to find alternative funding, shy of reducing the level of public safety services that we provide,” said City Manager Rob Schommer. “So we are now at that crossroads where in order to maintain the level of public safety services, we have a deficit of funds that we need to make up through some additional revenue.”
This is Bellbrook’s second attempt at putting the public safety levy before voters. The first one in May was rejected by the Greene County Board of Elections due to an error in ballot language.
Among the city’s fire and EMS and police departments, Bellbrook is subsidizing $600,000 of their operating dollars out of the city’s general fund, said City Manager Rob Schommer. The deficit for police is $420,000 and for fire and EMS is $190,000.
The 2.2 mill levy would essentially maintain the status quo in Bellbrook for service levels, personnel and response times.
If the levy does not pass, Bellbrook will have to cut two fire/EMS positions, three positions from the police department as well as $125,000 in street paving and other capital projects, Schommer said.
“80-plus percent of the budget is personnel,” Schommer said. “We’ve reduced just about everything we can operationally. So we basically are now cutting into meat. There is no fat.”
Those cuts would likely come as part of the 2026 budget, he said.
Voters’ decisions at the ballot box are residents’ best tool for communicating their desires to city government, Schommer said, adding that complete information about the levy and proposed budget cuts are available on the city’s website.
“Ask us questions, visit our website, get the facts,” he said. “Drill down and get through the information. We want (residents) to be armed with all the facts and information they need to be able to make an informed decision.”
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