Major school levies, Dayton city commission, local issues on May 2 ballot

Here are the major local ballot items for voters in Montgomery, Greene, Miami and Warren counties.

School district levies

Several school districts have new, large tax levies on Tuesday’s ballot.

Huber Heights City School District is asking voters to approve a five-year, 8.12-mill property tax levy, which would generate $6.9 million annually. It would cost the owner of a $100,000 home roughly $284 per year. Huber Heights has not passed a school levy that increased taxes for daily expenses since 2005.

Northmont City School District is asking for a 10-year, 7.82-mill property tax levy — expected to generate $5.8 million annually if passed — on Tuesday’s ballot. The levy would cost the owner of a $100,000 home $274 per year.

A five-year, 1% income tax that could generate $6.4 million annually is proposed for Vandalia-Butler School District. The earned income tax measure would affect wages and self-employment income.

Voters within the Fairborn City Schools will decide on a 34-year proposal to pay for the completion of the new high school on Commerce Center Boulevard. The 1.7-mill bond issue will generate $24.6 million if passed.

The following school districts will also have existing levy measures on the Tuesday ballot:

Dayton city commission race

The non-partisan race for two Dayton city commission seats will see six candidates, with the four getting the most votes advancing to the November general election.

Candidates include incumbent commissioners Matt Joseph and Chris Shaw, and challengers Marcus Bedinger, Valerie Duncan and David Esrati and Jordan Wortham, .

Shaw, of northeast Dayton, has served two terms on Dayton’s city commission and owns Shaw Cleaners in southwest Dayton.

Joseph, who lives in the Belmont neighborhood, is seeking his sixth term on the commission. He works as a principal logistics engineer with Sierra Nevada Corp.

Shroyer Park resident Wortham previously owned several small businesses and worked at the Dayton Police Department.

Bedinger, who lives in the Roosevelt neighborhood, has experience in retail management and formerly worked as a congressional constituent services liaison and field representative.

Esrati owns an ad agency — Next Wave Marketing Innovation — and lives in the South Park neighborhood.

Duncan, who lives in the Eastern Hills neighborhood, worked in the public sector for both the city of Dayton and Montgomery County for more than 30 years.

Troy mayor race

Troy mayor Robin Oda and Troy council president William Lutz are running for the mayor seat in this Republican primary.

No Democrat filed for the mayor’s term that will become effective Jan. 1, 2024. The mayor’s term is four years.

Oda is seeking her second term as mayor. She served as an at-large council member for eight years.

Lutz is a lifelong Troy resident and works with a nonprofit. Prior to becoming the council’s president a few years ago, he served two years as an at-large council member.

Miamisburg municipal judge seat

Two Republican candidates are facing off in the Miamisburg Municipal Court judge race, including a Miamisburg attorney and the daughter of the previous municipal court judge.

Judge Alyse Rettich was appointed to the seat formerly held by her father, Robert Rettich III, who died in office in February 2022. She took office in December and must run for election this year to retain the seat.

Challenging her is Josh Liles, who has been working as an attorney since 2005 and currently is a managing partner at Baver & Liles law firm. Liles earned his law degree from the University of Dayton.

Rettich also earned her law degree from the University of Dayton, and she has worked as a law clerk, an assistant prosecuting attorney, a felony prosecutor and an associate attorney in Montgomery County.

Electric, gas aggregation

Voters in Brookville, Union and Cedarville will consider authorizing both electric and gas aggregation, while Huber Heights and Troy voters will make a decision on natural gas aggregation.

The price of electricity has risen nationwide, and inflation, natural gas cost increases, supply chain problems and other issues — like growing post-pandemic demand for power — are contributing factors.

Ohio consumers can choose their electricity or natural gas suppliers — where their energy comes from. Through aggregation, a community negotiates with suppliers on behalf of eligible households, nonprofits and small businesses to save money on bills by grouping together.

Other levy issues

Townships, cities and villages throughout the Miami Valley are also asking voters to decide on property tax levies and other measures.

Beavercreek voters will decide on a 1.8-mill property tax levy that would hire five new police officers and cover police equipment costs if passed. The levy would raise property taxes by $63 per $100,000 of appraised property value.

Voters in Huber Heights are also being asked to renew a 10-year, 0.25% earned income tax. This tax levy funds fire, police and emergency medical services. For someone earning $50,000 in taxable income per year, the levy would continue to cost $125 per year.

Trotwood will have a 4.15-mill fire and EMS levy renewal on the ballot, too. But this time, the city is asking voters to renew the levy on a permanent basis, removing the need for future renewal requests.

Miami Twp. in Montgomery County voters will also decide if they want to replace a 5.25-mill police levy that generates $2.9 million annually. The replacement levy, which would generate an additional $893,065 per year, would cost the owner of a $100,000 property an additional $73.48 a year.

Washington Twp. is asking voters in the township and the city of Centerville to help fund the community’s recreation department via replacement of a 1-mill recreation levy and an increase of 0.5 mills of property tax, with a 5-year term. The township is also asking voters to renew an existing five-year, 4.65-mill fire levy.

In Xenia Twp. in Greene County, voters will decide on two separate levies for roads and the fire department. Both are five-year, 3.5 mill levies. Each would cost a homeowner $122.50 more annually per $100,000 in property value, and each would raise an extra $561,742 per year for the township.

In addition, Sugarcreek Twp. in Greene County will have a new, permanent 1.5-mill police levy. Homeowners would pay an additional $52.50 per $100,000 in property valuation, and the levy would generate $721,000 each year if passed.

Brown Twp. voters in Miami County will vote on a new, five-year, 1.5 mill current expenses levy that would collect $69,000 annually, if passed. It would cost the owner of a $100,000 home roughly $53 each year.