XENIA — Greene County voters approved a new .9 mill parks levy Nov. 3. According to unofficial results, the levy passed by about 900 votes.

The levy – a new five-year, .9 mill parks levy put on the ballot on by the Greene County Park District – will bring in about $3.3 million annually to the district and will cost taxpayers $31.50 per $100,000 of appraised property value annually, according to Greene County Auditor information.

The district was coming to voters because, according to levy promotional literature, the district relies on state funding for 75 percent of its budget, “but that funding has been cut by more than half over the last several years.”

“We have literally run out of funds and we have a big build up of maintenance that needs to be done and that’s basically just short of a million dollars,” Greene County Park District president John Finlay said previously. “A lot of it will be used for regular maintenance and for operations, but a significant amount will be for capital improvements and so on.”

According to Greene County Parks & Trails Director Chrisbell Bednar, $1 million of the annual funds would be designated by the district for trail maintenance, $1 million of the funds would be used for capital improvements and the remaining portion would be used for day-to-day operations and for the park district to cover its share of the park management agreement it has with the Greene County Commissioners.

According to the district literature, it currently has more than $800,000 in deferred maintenance projects, including replacing bridges and steps on paths, repairing roadways. Other projects that would be addressed with levy funds would include rehabilitating a nature center and establishing an education center, among other plans.