Bainbridge Township voters narrowly approved an additional 1.2-mill permanent road levy May 5 after officials said the township was falling behind on its paving schedule.
Bainbridge Township voters narrowly approved an additional 1.2-mill permanent road levy May 5 after officials said the township was falling behind on its paving schedule.
The levy received 1,466 votes in favor of it and 1,267 opposed it, according to the final, unofficial results of the Geauga County Board of Elections.
The 1.2-mill levy will cost homeowners about $42 annually per $100,000 property valuation, according to the Geauga County Auditor’s Office.
“The trustees, of course, thank the residents of Bainbridge for their commitment and support to our service department to recognize that we’re good stewards of their money,” Bainbridge Township Trustee Kristina O’Brien said Tuesday evening. “Levies are our funding source and they gave us that vote of confidence that the service department is doing the right job with those funds.”
Township officials said they maintain 85 miles of roadway and have not had sufficient funding to keep roads up to date. Bainbridge Township Service Director Alex Hansel previously said the current budget provides about $1.2 million annually for paving.
“The trustees and I would like to thank the residents of Bainbridge Township for their continued support of the service department, most recently through passage of the road levy,” Hansel said in a statement late that night.
The new levy is expected to generate approximately $1,015,989 per year, increasing total resurfacing funding to about $2.2 million annually, he said, adding it has been 20 years since the road department last sought additional funding.
“(Hansel) put in a lot of time, a lot of effort in getting the information out, putting together the meetings, the presentations, so our residents are confident in what these funds are for: to keep our roads, to keep the resurfacing, to keep the scheduled maintenance in a good timeline,” O’Brien said.
All levy funds will be dedicated to infrastructure and resurfacing projects, Hansel previously said.
“We recognize that requesting additional funding is a significant commitment, and we take that responsibility seriously,” he said May 5. “This funding will help align our budget with the current costs of maintaining infrastructure in a township of our size, and we are encouraged to begin improving road conditions to meet the service standards our residents and business community have come to rely on from Bainbridge Township.”
