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Election results— Miami Township Fire-Rescue, Yellow Springs school levies pass
- Published: May 11, 2017
By Diane Chiddister and Audrey Hackett
On Election Day, local voters handily passed a new bond issue and a renewal levy for the local fire department and school district. About 27 percent of village and township voters turned out for the May 2 special election.
Voters overwhelmingly supported the Miami Township Fire Rescue 2.4 mill, 30-year bond issue that will raise the funds for a new fire station. In the township, 73.47 percent of voters, or 814 individual voters, approved the bond, while 26.53 percent, or 294 individual voters, voted against.
The bond issue will raise $5.75 million for a new fire station and office facility at the township’s newly purchased land on Xenia Avenue, the former site of the Wright State Clinic. Fire department leaders had identified the site as the spot that offers the quickest response time for rescue vehicles and fire trucks.
Township leaders have sought a new station for years, waiting more than five years in order to purchase the Xenia Avenue land. The new station is needed because the old one, on Corry Street, is more than 60 years old, is too small for current equipment, outdated and constantly in need of repair, and lacking safe quarters for township staff, leaders have said. Currently, when staff has to stay overnight at the station, they must sleep in an area directly above the trucks, so that they inhale diesel fumes.
School renewal levy passes
Voters also overwhelmingly approved the renewal levy for Yellow Springs schools, with 81.64 percent, or 854 individual voters, supporting the levy, and 18.36 percent, or 192 individual voters, voting against.
According to Superindent Mario Basora on Wednesday, district leaders were optimistic prior to May 2 that the renewal levy would pass, but were pleasantly surprised by the wide margin. When the levy was introduced in 2012, about 67 percent of voters voted in favor.
“Yellow Springs has a stellar record of passing school levies,” Basora said.
The 7.0 mills, eight-year renewal levy costs homeowners $215 yearly for each $100,000 of appraised home value, or about $430 yearly for a $200,000 home, although as a renewal levy, it does not raise taxes. The levy produces $915,000 yearly for the schools, or 11 percent of total district funding. It enables the district to avoid deficit spending, according to Basora.
District leaders have also recently begun discussion of a potential new levy to fund the construction of new school buildings. That levy could be on the ballot as early as May 2018. Basora said on Wednesday that voters’ passage of the new bond issue for the fire station was a “good indicator of potential future support” for new school buildings.
Village precincts 440: north side of town; 441: western part of town; 442: central and downtown areas; 443: south end of the village. Miami Twp. precinct 455: east of State Route 370; 456: the western half of the township.
Vote results by precinct:
New bond issue for new MTFR station
Precinct 440: for bond, 183, or 74.6 percent; against, 62.
Precinct 441: for bond, 138, or 73.4 percent; against, 50.
Precinct 442: for bond, 162, or 82.6 percent; against, 34.
Precinct 443: for bond, 199, or 78.9 percent; against, 53.
Precinct 455: for bond, 46, or 59.7 percent; against, 31.
Precinct 456: for bond, 86, or 57.3 percent; against, 64.
Renewal levy for YS schools
Precinct 440: for levy, 207, or 83.1 percent; against, 42.
Precinct 441: for levy, 156, or 82.1 percent; against, 34.
Precinct 442: for levy, 173, or 86.9 percent; against, 26.
Precinct 443: for levy, 218, or 85.5 percent; against, 37.
Precinct 455: for levy, 11, or 91.7 percent; against, 1.
Precinct 456: for levy, 89, or 64.0 percent; against, 50.
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