Residents in the Village of Buckeye Lake will have the opportunity to weigh in on a 4-mill levy to help fund police and emergency services during the May 6 primary election.
The levy, if passed, will provide all of the funding for the Buckeye Lake Police department for the next three years.
The proposed levy is a three-year, four-mill levy, meaning property owners would be required to pay about $140 per $100,000 of appraised property value each year for the three-year term. The levy would raise roughly $524,000 annually, and more than $1.5 million over the three-year term.
The funding raised by this levy is a reduction to the police department’s operating budget, which is currently over $600,000 per year.
“It’s just trying to be as responsible as possible with the taxpayer money,” said Buckeye Lake Mayor Linda Goodman. “We presented last November a five-mill replacement levy, and it did not pass. It’s vitally important if we are going to have a police department, this levy has to pass this year because it is the only funding that the police department will have.”
The five-mill levy proposed last November would have increased the police budget to $639,000, but it failed to garner enough support at the polls, with 539 voters – or 50.95% – opposed and 519 of voters in favor of the levy.
Goodman is hopeful that the levy in this election will pass smoothly.
“We have a committee that’s formed from residents in the village. There’s one councilman on it, myself, and then the others are residents throughout the village, and they’re putting together a flyer that will go out,” Goodman said.
Goodman said it is essential for the village to support their police department with this levy. If the levy fails, there’s a risk the police department would need to make significant cuts – meaning county sheriffs and state police would have to fill in the gaps in Buckeye Lake, increasing response times during emergencies.
The village of about 2,500 year-round residents straddles Licking and Fairfield counties and is a popular tourism hub in the summer when boaters, aquasport enthusiasts and pirates flock to the community.
“You know, our current police chief [Jason Harget] has been with us for three years now,” Goodman said.“He’s doing an excellent job with our numbers as far as response times and investigations. His general knowledge of law enforcement really is making the village a better place to live,” Goodman said.
Early voting began on Tuesday, April 8, at the board of elections office at 20 S. 2nd Street in Newark. Hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays through April 25, 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. from April 28-May 2, and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, May 3, and 1-5 p.m. on Sunday, May 4. On Election Day, May 6, polls will be open 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Andrew Theophilus writes for TheReportingProject.org, the nonprofit news organization of Denison University’s Journalism program, which is supported by generous donations from readers. Sign up for The Reporting Project newsletter here.