ASHLAND – Ashland voters put their stamp of approval on both income tax levies that city council put on the ballot Tuesday night.
According to the final unofficial results from the Ashland County Board of Elections, a 0.25 percent income tax to repair city streets passed 4,639 votes to 3,610 votes.
The second 0.25 percent income tax to hire more police and fire personnel was approved by voters, 5,471 votes to 2,812 votes.
Each of the five-year levies will generate about $1.475 million per year. The city’s income tax rate will increase from 1.5 percent to 2 percent with the two new levies. Collection on the new rate will start Jan. 1.
City Finance Director Larry Paxton says that the income tax increase will raise the income tax liability of city residents by $50 per $10,000 of income.
The third time was a charm for the street improvement levy. The levy failed in 2014 by a vote of 2,567 to 2,232 and again in 2015 by a vote of 2,887 to 2,269.
“I think people really understand now that it’s really important to the economy and the community to have good streets. It’s not just about driving around potholes. It’s about the infrastructure being taken care of and really being addressed, not just patching but really taking care of them,” City Councilwoman Sandra Tunnell said.
Tunnell said city council, the mayor and the streets and engineering will look at the condition of city streets and determine which ones are highest priority, and the public will also be included in the process.
“They supported this and so we want them to have some input and say in the process,” Tunnell said. “We talk a lot about transparency and so we want to prove to them that it was a legitimate thing that we said.”
The funds from the safety levy will be split evenly between the police and fire divisions. Currently, the city police department is 10 officers short of full strength and the fire department is four short of full strength. According to city ordinance, the police division is authorized to have 32 officers plus the chief and the fire department is allowed 37.
Tunnell said it will take some time to get new safety personnel hired and trained but the levy will do a lot to help get both divisions up to the staffing levels called for by ordinance.
