Voters approved most municipal public safety levies; two Madison County levies tight
It started as a nervous election night for numerous central Ohio communities asking voters to pay more for fire protection, emergency medical services and police. The results calmed the nerves for officials in most communities.
After final, unofficial returns from Tuesday's primnary/ special election, it appeared voters in many communities embraced the public safety levy requests on the ballot.
Here are central Ohio election results: Franklin, Licking, Delaware, Fairfield counties and more
Voters in Union Township, southwest of Newark in Licking County, approved 72% to 28% an additional 7-mill levy for five years for fire and EMS service, according to final, unofficial results from the Licking County Board of Elections. The levy will cost a property owner $245 per $100,000 of assessed valuation and is expected to generate $1.6 million annually.
Buckeye Lake's 8-mill property tax levy (5-mill renewal plus 3 additional mills); Monroe Township fire/EMS levies were also approved by voters, as was a Utica police levy.
Union Township had sought a permanent 4-mill levy in November, but it failed by just three votes. It would have supported fire and EMS contracts with West Licking Joint Fire District and Granville Township Fire Department. The contracts were established after a fire district formed with the village of Hebron could not acquire financial support from voters and was dissolved.
Union Township Trustee Jeff Sharps said two 1.5-mill levies expire at the end of this year, so another levy failure Tuesday would have left the township in a desperate situation with no levy revenues to continue fire/EMS protection at year's end.
After the unofficial, final results were announced Tuesday night, Sharps said he was both surprised and ecstatic by the result, especially after losing by three votes last year.
"We made a more concerted effort to educate the residents and try to get the message out," Sharps said. "We finally got to a point we know what fire protection is going to look like for the next five years."
Wendy Bittel, a Union Township resident voting Tuesday at the township hall polling location, said she voted for the levy because she's seen the importance of a quick fire response.
“I live where there’s no fire hydrants," Bittelsaid. "The home I live in burned down before I moved in and was rebuilt in 2003. It was hit by lightning. A summer ago, a neighbor’s home caught fire. It feels like something we should have.”
Larry Fenner said he voted against the fire levy because the advertising seemed deceiving, and the amount of property tax money sought by the township is tough to afford for retirees on a fixed income.
Ken Fisher said he also opposed the levy. “I’m just generally opposed to taxes," Fisher said. "I think they get enough money.”
Kelli Biehle said she voted for the levy “because the people I know and respect support it. It keeps us with Granville Fire Department and that’s a plus for me.”
The township’s contract with Granville Fire Department expires at the end of June, and its contract with West Licking Joint Fire District expires in 2025. Without approval of the levy Tuesday, Union Township would have had no money to pay for the fire service contracts.
Voters in Buckeye Lake, a village south of Newark that is located in both Licking and Fairfield counties, approved a total 8 mills — a 5-mill property tax renewal along with a 3-mill increase — for five years for fire and EMS. The entire cost to property owners will be $280 annually per $100,000 of assessed valuation, generating $513,370 annually.
According to unofficial results, the Buckeye Lake levy was approved 55% to 45%. In an indication of how light the turnout was for Tuesday's election, four Fairfield County residents voted on the Buckeye Lake levy, with three of four opposing the measure.
Utica voters approved an additional 5-mill property tax for five years for the operation of a police department by a 69% to 31% margin, according to unofficial results.
In Madison County, however, two races were very close after Tuesday's unofficial results.
Voters in London appeared to reject by six votes — 557 to 551 — a permanent 0.25% income tax increase for fire and EMS service that would have generated an estimated $1.2 million annually, according to unofficial results with 100% of precincts reporting. A recount appears likely for the city, which already has a 1.5% income tax.
Two previous initiatives in London failed. The first was to build a recreation center and police station, and for fire/EMS service. The second, which failed in November, omitted the recreation center. The proposed tax issue on Tuesday's ballot is solely to fund any fire and EMS costs, including payment of bond debt for the construction of new facilities.
In Jefferson Township, the outcome of an additional, continuous property tax levy of 3.5 mills to fund fire department and EMS operations passed by eight votes, 397-389, according to unofficial results.
Besides fire and EMS issues, there were also municipal levy requests for maintenance of streets, bridges and roads and cemeteries on various ballots across central Ohio. In addition, citizen petition referendums were on the ballot in a couple of places challenging zoning amendments approved by the townships involved.
One of those was in Berkshire Township in Delaware County, where a group of residents opposed plans to rezone nearly 88 acres of land at Plumb and Dustin roads to clear the way for a Columbus-based realty development firm to build a large subdivision of single-family homes.
Berkshire residents overwhelmingly rejected the zoning amendment 76% to 24%, according to unofficial vote totals from the Delaware County Board of Elections.
Election results: Live Ohio election results for Franklin, Licking, Delaware, Fairfield counties and more
@kmallett1958
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: There were numerous fire and EMS levy requests Tuesday in central Ohio
