By Anna DeWine
SUGARCREEK TOWNSHIP — Citizens of Sugarcreek Township voted on Tuesday to pass a levy that will place additional funding toward fire and emergency medical services.
The replacement levy passed 2,950 votes to 1827 votes, or 61.75 percent voting for the tax levy and 38.25 percent voting against the tax levy.
Issue 17, a 2.9-mills levy for a continuing period of time, will help update Fire/EMS equipment. This includes the replacement of equipment like protection gear, and most significantly, engines for fire fighters and EMS personnel.
“This allows us to update equipment that is desperately needed,” Fire Chief Jeffrey Leaming said as results came in. “It means that we’ll have reliable equipment and that we won’t be spending money to maintain equipment that should’ve been replaced 5 or 10 years ago.”
Now that the levy has passed, homeowners with a $100,000 property value will pay $101.50 per year, in contrast to the $54.13 they were paying.
The annual estimated proceeds toward the funding was $626,000 before the levy passed, and could now potentially be $988,000 with the new levy.
“We appreciate our voters’ confidence in us and our organization and we look forward to serving them,” Leaming said.
