Returns: CBE fails; library, fire levy win

• By YS News Staff
• Published: November 13, 2014

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Public funding for the Center for Business and Education, or CBE, went down with a resounding “No” on Election Day, with 64 percent of villagers voting against the public funding, and 36 percent voting in favor. The vote brings to a halt Village Council’s decision to move ahead with the business park, which has been in the making for more than 10 years.

In total, 1,147 voters opposed the public funding while 649 voted in favor. A total of 1,796 village voters cast a vote on the referendum on Election Day.

The CBE vote was more one-sided than many expected. Council had last summer voted 3-2 to move ahead with funding the CBE infrastructure, at a total cost estimated at about $1 million over 20 years. Following the vote, a group of opponents gathered signatures for the referendum to allow citizens to weigh in on the project.

The CBE was backed by Community Resources, a nonprofit that launched the project almost 15 years ago. Group members believed that the 35-acre business park would boost the town’s economy by bringing in new businesses and also providing space for current businesses to expand. CBE critics questioned the project’s viability in a shaky economy in which many business parks have floundered, and especially the risk involved using taxpayer dollars.

As with most elections, different parts of the village voted somewhat differently. The strongest support for CBE funding came from Precinct 443 in the south side of town, where 41 percent of voters favored the project and 58 percent opposed it. The strongest opposition came from Precinct 440, the north end of town, where only 32 percent of voters said yes to the CBE and 67 percent said no.

The breakdown by precinct is as follows:
440 (north side of town)
No: 347, or 67.5 percent;
Yes: 167, or 32.5 percent
441 (western side)
No: 251, or 65 percent
Yes: 133, or 35 percent
442 (historic town center)
No: 259, or 64.5 percent
Yes: 142, 35.4 percent
443 (south side)
No: 290, or 58.3 percent
Yes: 207, or 41.6 percent

Miami Twp. levy wins easily
Yellow Springers and voters in Miami Township gave an emphatic thumbs-up to Issue 23, the fire department levy. The renewal levy added no new taxes and will raise about $515,000 for fire/rescue crew operations.

A total of 2,383 voters voted on the levy. Out of that, 2,081, or 87.3 percent, favored the levy and 302 voters, or 12.6 percent, opposed it.
440: For the levy: 456, or 88.5 percent
Against the levy: 59, or 11.4 percent
441: For the levy: 335, or 87.7 percent
Against the levy: 47, or 12 percent
442: For the levy: 383, or 93 percent
Against the levy: 28, or 6.8 percent
443: For the levy: 460, or 92 percent
Against the levy: 39, or 7.8 percent

Miami Township
455: For the levy: 209, or 74.6 percent
Against the levy: 71, or 25 percent
456: For the levy: 238, or 80 percent
Against the levy: 58, or 19.6 percent

Library gets more funding
Greene County looked favorably on their local library’s request for more funding in saying yes to Issue 2, even though it means new taxes. The library levy, the first increase in library funding in 10 years, was favored by 58.45 percent of county voters, or 28,326 votes. About 41.5 percent of voters, or 20,136, voted against the levy.

And in Yellow Springs, the library levy swept the polls, with local support for the levy in all village precincts about 85 to 90 percent.

440: For the levy: 467, or 89.2 percent
Against the levy: 56, or 10.7 percent
441: For the levy: 338, or 86.8 percent
Against the levy, 51, or 13 percent
442: For the levy: 381, or 92 percent
Against the levy: 7.7 percent
443: For the levy: 451, or 89.8 percent
Against the levy: 51, or 10 percent

Miami Township
455: For the levy: 167, or 59 percent
Against the levy: 114, or 40.5 percent
456: For the levy: 207, or 69.7 percent
Against the levy: 90, or 30 percent

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