BELLVILLE — Bellville voters will decide whether or not to renew an existing street levy on Election Day.
The four mill levy generates approximately $187,755 each year for the general construction, reconstruction, resurfacing and repair of streets, roads and bridges
If renewed, collection will continue for five years, starting with tax year 2026 (first collections due in 2027.)
According to Bellville fiscal officer Amanda Perry, the levy makes up about 38 percent of the Bellville’s streets funding during a typical year.
Other funding sources include the village income tax and gasoline taxes.
Bellville is currently responsible for maintaining about 19.34 miles of roads, including 5.74 miles of state routes, Mayor Teri Brenkus said.
Brenkus said under Ohio law, Bellville is responsible for maintaining state routes within the village, which need more maintenance since they regularly experience traffic from semi trucks and wide-load vehicles.
However, the Ohio Department of Transportation’s third district covered most of those costs until about three years ago. The mayor said that means revenue from the street level is more crucial than ever.
“Putting that expense on the village residents to cover that is mind blowing,” Brenkus said. “We were certainly blessed for years.”
She said the village has increased wages for its street department to stay competitive with other municipalities.
She also said material costs have increased significantly.
How much would this cost me?
The levy property owners about $140 for each $100,000 of the county auditor’s appraised value, prior to any statutory reductions.
Property owners can find out exactly what the proposed renewal would cost them by using the search tool on the Richland County Auditor’s site.
After looking up your property, click ‘Levies’ in the menu of options at the top of the page (mobile users may need to click ‘More’ to see the ‘Levies’ option.)
The levies page shows how much levies on the November ballot currently cost property owners, how much they would cost if approved and whether approval would result in a tax increase or decrease.
Since the Bellville streets levy is a renewal, passage would not increase taxes.
