Aquilla Village voters chose, 106 to 43, to dissolve the village Nov. 5, according to the final unofficial results of the Geauga County Board of Elections.
Aquilla Village voters chose, 106 to 43, to dissolve the village Nov. 5, according to the final unofficial results of the Geauga County Board of Elections.
This issue passed after months of discussions, petitions and Aquilla Village Council’s action to place the issue to surrender corporate power on Tuesday’s ballot.
Exactly when the dissolution would be official is still a topic of discussion between village council and Claridon Township Trustees.
Mayor Rich Wolfe said in a phone interview Tuesday night that when he took the petition around, he believed property owners were attracted to the idea their taxes would go down.
“I’ve lived here all my life. I’m definitely not glad to see it happen,” he said. “I think it’s a move forward for the village.”
Wolfe and council began serious discussions about the future of the 400-resident village at a meeting May 14. The village mainly had financial concerns.
Seventy-five years ago, when Aquilla started as a summer vacation resort of cottages, the community voted to become a village apart from surrounding Claridon Township with a mayor and council.
The movement to dissolve their status as an independent corporation and rejoin Claridon Township was spurred by village officials realizing money was running out and, without a huge levy of at least 10 mills, Aquilla could not maintain its status.
About 30 village residents attended the May 14 meeting, and former council member Chris Alusheff said about half were in favor of dissolution and half were against it.
Following the advice of Geauga County Prosecutor Jim Flaiz, Wolfe and council member Julie Petrowski disseminated petitions for the dissolution and sufficient voter signatures were collected to place the issue on the Nov. 5 ballot.
The main advantage to dissolution appeared to be the likelihood village property owners’ taxes would decrease to the same level as those of township residents.
That became apparent in July, when council agreed not to place the large levy on the ballot as an alternative to dissolution.
“It seems everyone is all about lowering taxes,” Wolfe said in a phone interview after the meeting.
When the community becomes part of Claridon Township, the village levies will cease to exist. Aquilla residents will be paying Claridon property taxes, which are significantly lower. However, the township needs to be able to afford to maintain Aquilla’s roads, cemeteries, and fire and EMS contracts.
Claridon Township Trustee Jonathan Tiber said in a phone interview June 24 Claridon Township Fire Department projects the cost for fire/EMS coverage to increase by about 8% per year for the next three years.
How much more the contract would be for CFD to cover Aquilla needs to be determined, he said.
