Welcome to Richland Source’s election coverage. Tonight, we will be following seven key issues and races.
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The City of Ontario will be choosing a new mayor tonight.
Voters will be checking a box for Randy E. Hutchinson, Republican candidate for mayor or S. David Metzger, Democratic candidate for mayor.
Richland County Senior Services is seeking a renewal levy. The Richland County Senior Services levy, if renewed, will continue to provide services and care for the residents over the age of 60 in North Central Ohio.
The levy will not generate new tax dollars for taxpayers because it is a renewal, and will be good for five years. It will draw $33 a year from the owner of a $100,000 house. The levy’s main purpose is to provide services and care for senior citizens who are striving for independence.
If passed, the levy will provide matching funds to allow the Agency on Aging to collect $650,000 a year.
The Richland County Health District is also seeking a renewal levy.
The renewal based upon the 2003 collection valuation that will not increase current taxes. The levy is a 0.5 mil, 10-year renewal of the 2003 replacement for the original 1994 levy, which contributes to funding the department’s more than 60 public health services.
This 0.5 mil, 10-year renewal levy will cost a property owner $17.50/$100,000.00 valuation/year. If this renewal levy is not successful, the Board of Health will likely find it necessary to make decisions to reduce services or staff.
Richland County Children Services is also asking for a replacement levy.
Richland County Children Services (RCCS) is asking voters to approve a 1-mill, 10-year replacement levy.
The levy would replace a 1-mill, 10-year levy first approved by voters in 1984 and renewed twice since then. It would bring the issue up to current property values. The agency has received no additional local money since 1999.
The local levy would generate $1.9 million annually — but would also allow the agency to leverage $1.3 million in federal dollars that otherwise would not come into this community. Those two dollar amounts added together represent about 25 percent of the agency’s annual operating budget.
Collection on this levy at the replaced rate would not begin until January 2015. Local levy dollars are even more crucial in Ohio, which ranks 50th of the 50 states in the state share of funding that goes to child protection.
The City of Shelby is seeking an additional .2 percent income tax to pay for street and sidewalk maintenance. This levy, which expired in 2011 and has been voted down in the previous two attempts, provides funding to maintain city roadways and sidewalks.
In passing the levy, the citizens of Shelby would make the city eligible for the ODOT Urban Paving program. This state-funded program would provide as much as 80 percent of the dollars necessary for the maintenance of state routes 39, 61, and 96, for which the city is responsible. The Urban Paving program is not mandated and could be cut at anytime, leaving the city responsible for all of the financial burden. Now is the time for residents to make an investment in themselves and their city’s infrastructure.
The City of Mansfield is seeking additional taxation. Voters will have the opportunity to decide whether or not to support the Mansfield City Municipal Levy.
City employee and levy committee chair, Mark Abrams, broke down the funding into percentages, noting that if the levy were to pass, 50 percent of the funds would benefit the safety forces, 22 percent would be distributed to the Parks Department, 20 percent would go towards demolitions, and the remaining eight percent would be used for the street lights.
Finally, Mansfield City Schools is seeking an additional levy, one that would replace a renewal rejected by voters in a previous election.
“The big picture is that Mansfield is a major employer and there will be a ripple effect if this levy does not pass,” said Mansfield City Schools Board of Education President, Chris Elswick.
Although the levy in November 2012 failed, a levy passed in the spring that provided $3.9 million. Both levies are required in order to meet the funding need
Mansfield City Schools is on the ballot in November for a replacement levy. “This is an important levy because this levy replaces the money that was voted against in 2012. The levy in 2012 was a renewal and it lost by a narrow margin which was worth $4 million,” said Superintendant of Mansfield City Schools Brian Garverick.
Mansfield City School Levy
Status: Passes
Total Votes 5187
For: 54.04%
Against: 45.96%
Richland County Senior Citizens Services Renewal Levy
Status: Passed
Total Votes 21717
For: (15588) 71.78%
Against: (6129) 28.22%
City of Shelby Income Tax Levy
Status: Passed
Total Votes: 1871
For: (1075) 57.46%
Against: (796) 42.54%
Children Services Renewal Levy
Status: Passed
Total Votes: 21669.
For: (12450) 57.46%.
Against: (9219) 42.54%
Ontario Mayoral Race:
Randy Hutchinson
Total Votes: 1598
Randy E. Hutchinson: (1140) 71.34%
S. David Metzger: (458) 28.66%
City of Mansfield 0.25% Income Tax:
Status:
Total Votes 6589
For: (3369) 51.13%
Against: (3220) 48.87%
Richland County Health District Renewal Levy
Status: Passed
Total Votes: 19827
For: 63.06%
Against: 36.94%
