Burton Township residents will be asked Nov. 4 to change a 3-mill renewal levy for roads and bridges to a 3-mill replacement levy, according to the Geauga County Auditor’s Office.
Burton Township residents will be asked Nov. 4 to change a 3-mill renewal levy for roads and bridges to a 3-mill replacement levy, according to the Geauga County Auditor’s Office.
The renewal levy yields the same amount originally approved by voters in 2016. In this case, the levy yields $260,131 and costs $74.96 per year per $100,000 property valuation, according to the auditor’s office.
If approved, the replacement levy, which is being put on a year early, will cost property owners $105 per year per $100,000 property valuation and collect $351,333 annually — a 25% to 30% increase for the property owner, according to the auditor’s office. It would take effect in 2026 and be collected in 2027.
The increase is needed because the cost of road work has gone up dramatically since the levy was approved by voters 10 years ago, said Burton Township Trustee Ken Burnett in a phone interview Sept. 18.
“When we first put the levy on, it cost $200,000 to pave a mile of road. We just paved 9/10 of a mile and it cost us more than $270,000,” he said, adding the cost of paving a road has gone up 50% since the 3-mill levy was first passed 10 years ago
Trustees are planning a couple of large projects over the next five years, also necessitating an increase in revenue, Burnett said.
Burton Township works with the Geauga County Engineer’s Office and the Ohio Public Works Commission to receive state funding for projects, he said.
Although the cost of paying the township’s two road employees is extremely high, road department personnel costs are not the reason the additional funds are needed, Burnett said.
He noted the new $800,000 maintenance building mostly was paid for with money trustees set aside from American Rescue Plan Act funds sent by the government during the COVID-19 pandemic.
