Any future levy funding would go toward maintaining existing service levels, not to expand services, Vogel said.
Trustees are expected to consider placement of the levies on the May ballot at their Jan. 26 meeting.
Butler Twp. currently has three continuous levies in place.
Current police levies include a 4.9-mill levy approved in 2006 and a 3.5-mill levy approved in 2016.
Fire and ambulance services are currently funded by an 8.7-mill levy, which was approved in 2003.
These levies currently generate approximately $3.7 million each year, accounting for 55% of the police and fire departments’ operating budgets, according to Vogel. This breaks down to roughly $1.86 million for police services and $1.84 million for fire and ambulance services.
As continuing levies, these taxes do not have set expiration dates and remain in effect at the same millage rate as originally approved.
Under current state law, replacement levies are no longer permitted, which limits the township’s ability to simply “reset” an existing levy to today’s values, Vogel said.
“It has been 23 years since voters were last asked to approve a fire and ambulance levy and 10 years since voters were last asked to approve a new police levy. Over time, the value of the levy revenue has declined, while the costs of providing police and fire services have continued to increase,” Vogel said.
For the year 2026, the police budget is underfunded by approximately $700,000, with fire/ambulance services underfunded by around $600,000, according to the township.
The township has supplemented police and fire funds using JED-Z and hotel/motel tax revenue generated by the Benchwood Station business district.
The Butler Twp. police service fund is allocated approximately $750,000 annually from this business district revenue, with the fire/EMS services fund receiving around $250,000 each year.
The funding of these services has been maintained through conservative budgeting, strategic use of declining reserves, TIF funding and business district revenue.
However, township officials are now considering new levy requests as a way to stabilize both funds and maintain consistent service levels, Vogel said.
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