Good news for Sebring voters: No local tax issues on March ballot

Benjamin Duer, Canton Repository
Updated ·2 min read
Sebring voters rejected additional tax dollars for parks and police on the Nov. 7, 2023, ballot.
Sebring voters rejected additional tax dollars for parks and police on the Nov. 7, 2023, ballot.

SEBRING − Voters will get a break in the March primary election after Sebring Village Council decided Monday to push three local tax issues off until at least November.

Sebring Village voters rejected a tax issue for police funding and two levies for the park system on Nov. 7. The move means local voters won't have to decide any local tax issues on March 19.

November 2023 election results: Sebring voters pass fire tax, reject police and park levies

Two of the tax levies that Village Council nixed were the same ones that failed last month.

"I feel that the voters made their choices clear and we have to respect that at this time," Councilwoman Samantha Phillips said. "I would be open to those specific departments requesting levies on a future ballot once they've regrouped and strategized a better way to express their need for them."

Councilman Marvin Aberegg II agreed.

"We don't think it's fair to put through a primary when voter turnout is low. The whole town will be able to vote on that (in the general election)," he said. "We also have (retirement center) Copeland Oaks. They all vote and they don't pay for levies, so levies always pass there. That circumvents the will of the town."

The proposals were an additional 2-mill tax levy for the police; an additional 2-mill levy for the parks; and a 1-mill renewal levy for the parks. Similar requests for additional taxes were rejected last month.

"Unfortunately, they lost," Aberegg said.

In other business, council members:

• Approved putting in a crosswalk with signage in the 100 block of West Ohio Avenue between North 15th Street and North 16th Street.

• Expected to discuss possible restrictions on legalized marijuana and/or marijuana dispensaries in the near future. "I'm not open to a ban," Abergegg said.

Reach Benjamin Duer at 330-580-8567 or ben.duer@cantonrep.com. On X (formerly Twitter): @bduerREP

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Sebring Village Council rejects tax requests for March ballot