Voters approve bond issue, levy for libraries


A bond issue that will reshape the future of the Dayton Metro Library System and the services it offers with an up or down vote on Issue 70, a $187 million bond issue to fund a system-wide construction and renovation project, has passed easily with 99 percent of precincts reporting, according to unofficial results from the Montgomery County Board of Elections.

The proposed plan will consolidate the main library in downtown Dayton and 20 branches into 17 buildings. Newer suburban branches would be updated. The endeavor will be one of the largest building projects with direct neighborhood impact in Montgomery County since the $627-million Dayton Public Schools construction program.

Montgomery County voters approved the issue 62% to 38%, 121,286 to 74,818, according to unofficial results.

In Oakwood, the levy for the Wright Memorial Public Library has passed with 100 percent of precincts reporting. According to the unofficial results, the vote was 71% to 29% for the levy, 3,841 votes to 1,569.

The Wright Memorial Public Library was seeking a five-year, 1.5-mill replacement levy that would generate $427,667.

The issue is a consolidation of two levies — one a 0.5-mill operating levy that passed in 2009, the other a .94-mill levy that will expire at year’s end.