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WELLSVILLE - Wellsville is asking voters to approve an additional police levy when they go to the polls for the 2022 General Election.
The police levy is one of three levies the 1,846 registered voters in Wellsville are being asked to vote on.
The levy is for the purpose of providing for, maintaining and operating the village police department and for maintaining vehicles, communications, building and other equipment, salaries of department personnel, including payment of the village's contribution towards pensions.
The additional police levy will cost property owners with a $60,000 property an additional $10.50 a month and those with property valued at $80,000 an additional $12 a month. If passed the levy 5-mill, continuing levy will commence in 2022, with first payment due in 2023.
"Our police department has one of the lowest pays around here. They handle a lot of cases and also, they really treat the residents as their family," Hoi Wah Yu, Wellsville fiscal officer, said. "However, the village previously only had two small levies passed to support personal services and operational expenses. If this 5 mill levy passes, that will be able to put our officers' wages comparable to the neighboring towns."
The registered voters in Wellsville will have the option to vote in favor or against the additional levy.
According to Police Chief Ed Wilson, the reason the department needs this levy to pass is to help them retain the officers that they currently have.
The department has full-time officers leaving for part-time positions with other departments because they are making more part-time elsewhere than they are making full-time in Wellsville.
If the trend continues at the current rate, the department will have to start paying more overtime and the money for that is not in the budget and could result in the department running out of money.
"The main reason we need it is to keep the officers we have here now," Wilson said. "We have had full-time officers leave here to go work part-time somewhere else because they are making more money part-time somewhere else than they are full time here."
A certificate of estimated tax value issued by Nancy Gause Miliken, Columbiana County auditor, estimates that the property tax revenue produced by this millage, providing the tax valuation of the subdivision remains consistent throughout the life of the levy will be about $154,100. The total tax valuation of the subdivision used in calculating the estimated property tax revenue is $32,108,340.
Absentee and early in person voting starts Wednesday.
Kgarabrandt@mojonews.com