“This police department is completely funded by the two operating levies,” he said. “The one that we just passed just last year was ... the first operating levy. The second one is this one, and they each contribute about half of the revenue for the entire police department, If one fails, we will lose about almost half of our operating revenue, so that’s how this is extremely important.”
The levy costs the owner of an $100,000 property $144 a year, according to the Montgomery County Auditor’s Office.
Voters in May 2023 approved a permanent 5.75-mill property tax levy to replace a 5.25-mill levy approved by voters in November 2018, one that generated just under $2.9 million a year, but expired at the end of 2023.
The township received nearly $6.5 million in property tax receipts from the two police levies combined in 2023, township officials previously said. The current budget for the police department is slightly more than $7.3 million, Stiegelmeyer confirmed.
Miami Twp. Police Department uses levy funds for various purposes, such as paying police officers, acquiring cruisers and equipment, funding training programs, and covering day-to-day operating expenses.
“What we want to do is be able to operate and provide the best police services possible at the best price possible,” Stiegelmeyer said. “So in essence, I’m trying to run a good business and after they approved the increase on the last levy, we had calculated this out and we are very confident that this levy right here will be able to operate pretty comfortably on hopefully through this levy cycle.”
A replacement levy that the township considered, but ended up scuttling, would have increased taxes by $49 annually per $100,000 of property value, and increased township income from the levy from $3.42 million to $4.73 million per year.
In 2022 the police department responded to 29,834 calls for service and in 2023 the department responded to 34,982 calls for service, Stiegelmeyer said.
The police department has 33 sworn members.
Stiegelmeyer said he is thankful that Miami Twp. residents have been supportive of the police department.
“We’re just merely asking for them to consider that when these levies come up, that all we’re doing is trying to maintain the current services that they’re expecting from us, and that’s what this levy is about: just to maintain what we’re presently providing to make sure that they get the best services possible,” he said.
About the Author
