Libraries, schools, nursing facility among the levy issues to be decided in Ottawa County
Voters across Ottawa County will decide on several issues when they go to the polls on Tuesday, including renewals for school districts, libraries, nursing facilities and more.
When talking about taxes, a mill is $1 in taxes for every $1,000 of assessed value. In Ohio, the assessed value of real estate is 35% of the property’s estimated market value.
Polls will be open in Ohio on Tuesday from 6:30 a.m. until 7:30pm.
All voters must bring acceptable identification to the polls in order to verify their identity. For a list of acceptable forms of identification, visit the Ohio Secretary of State’s website at ohiosos.gov.
If voting by mail, the absentee ballot postmark deadline is Monday.
Riverview levy
Ottawa County Riverview Healthcare Campus is seeking replacement of a 0.5-mill, 5-year levy for operation and maintenance expenses.
While Riverview is owned and operated by the Ottawa County Commissioners, the facility is financially independent. Riverview receives no funds from the Ottawa County general fund.
Riverview’s revenue stream includes Medicare, Medicaid, private pay individuals, and commercial insurances among a few other smaller revenue sources.
The Ottawa County Auditor estimates the levy will collect $1,198,000 annually, at a rate not exceeding 0.5 mill for each $1 of taxable value, which amounts to $17.50 for each $100,000 of the county auditor’s appraised value, for five years.
This tax levy is utilized for capital projects to keep the facility in good condition to remain an asset to the Ottawa County taxpayers, a comfortable home to our residents and an attractive choice in the competitive senior housing industry.
The Riverview Renovation Project is funded by a $10 million bond being paid through the facility’s current 0.5 mil tax levy.
Established in 1871, and serving Ottawa County residents, Riverview is at 8180 W. State Route 163 in Oak Harbor.
BCS school levy
Benton-Carroll-Salem Local School District has 3 renewals on the ballot this fall: a 1.2-mill levy for permanent improvements; a 3.9-mill levy for current operating expense,; and an emergency levy that collects an estimated 3.6 mills.
The 1.2-mill and 3.9-mill levies are for maintaining district buildings, technology, safety and buses. They will cost about $11 and $92 for the owner of a $100,000 home, according to Ottawa County Auditor Jennifer Widmer.
The third levy is a 3.6-mill emergency levy, originally passed in 2018 after the devaluation of Davis-Besse Nuclear Plant, and will cost about $126 per year for a $100,000 home, Widmer said.
Since all three are renewals, BCS district residents taxes will not increase if the measures are approved. All three of these levies bring in a total of $1.5 million for the district each year.
All three levies would be in effect five years if passed, beginning in 2024.
BCS encompasses three schools and serves approximately 1,413 students who live in the villages and townships of Oak Harbor, Graytown, Rocky Ridge, Carroll Township, Benton Township, Erie Township., and Salem Township.
Oak Harbor public library
Oak Harbor Public Library is seeking renewal of a 1-mill, 5-year levy for current operating expenses.
This renewal levy is not a tax increase and will cost the owner of property valued at $100,000 a total of $27 per year. All property owners in the Benton-Caroll-Salem School District are taxed through this levy.
The library receives 48% of its revenue from the State of Ohio’s Public Library Fund, and the other 51% from the levy and 1% from gifts and donations.
According to the library’s information sheet, the renewal levy will pay for day-to-day operating expenses, including utilities, building maintenance, new library materials (all digital resources, supplies, computers and technology.)
If it does not pass, the library will be forced to cut hours, materials purchased, library programs, and other services in order to balance the budget, it said.
In 2022, the Oak Harbor Public Library had 31,555 visitors, who checked out 58,000 items, including books, ebooks, audiobooks, movies and hotspots.
Ida Rupp Public Library
The Ida Rupp Public Library is asking the public to approve a 0.8-mill replacement levy on Tuesday.
The main library is in Port Clinton, with branches in Marblehead and Put-in-Bay. The levy accounted for 54% of the libraries' funding in 2022 with the rest of its funds coming from the state.
The five-year levy would provide about $1.25 million a year for the libraries. The replacement levy would not add any millage but would generate more revenue since property values have risen.
If the levy fails the library would be forced to reduce its hours of operation and services.
More information is available at idarupp.org/library-levy.
Marblehead
The Village of Marblehead is seeking replacement of a 2.2-mill, 5-year levy for operating expenses.
It will cost the owner of a $100,000 home about $77 per year, Widmer said.
This levy generates more than 40% of the property taxes, which is used to pay for the police department, streetlights, zoning, street department, maintenance and administrative expenses.
The 5-year levy was first passed in 1988 and has been renewed or replaced by Marblehead voters ever since, Marblehead’s Fiscal Officer Rhonda Sowers said in a Facebook post.
“Without this levy services will need to be cut and the impact will be immediate,” she said.
This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Voters in Ottawa County to decide fat of numerous local issues Tuesday