Beavercreek voters rejected a .49-mill Parks and Recreation levy that would have resulted in an additional $17 per $100,000 of appraised home value in property taxes.
Voters rejected the measure with just shy of 60% against it.
The money would have been used to hire three additional full-time employees: two parks maintenance workers and a staff member for the Beavercreek Senior Center, but would also have kept the parks department from a projected budget shortfall of $250,000, beginning in 2025.
The city will hold a budget work session on November 18, during which city staff and council will review the parks department budget in detail, the city said Friday.
“To address the shortfall, city staff plans to recommend reductions in capital and project expenditures, which may include postponing playground replacements, as well as deferring equipment replacement and ADA accessibility upgrades at city parks. However, any final decisions will be made by City Council,” the city said.
By contrast, a Greene County Park District renewal levy was passed successfully, and voters also approved a levy for Five Rivers MetroParks in Montgomery County.
Xenia current expenses renewal
Voters in Xenia shot down a five-year renewal of a 3.5-mill current expenses levy on Election Day, with 54.5% of voters saying “no” to the tax that was originally passed in 1959.
That levy expires at the end of 2024, and so will no longer be collected in 2025.
This levy generated about $485,000 a year, City Manager Brent Merriman said, adding that “while not a major tax resource, this general purpose tax revenue has been critical to funding core services in Xenia for decades.”
“The general sense we are hearing is that voters are still upset with recent state-mandated property revaluations that sharply increased property taxes locally and around Greene County,” Merriman said. “Unfortunately, many Xenians are under the mistaken assumption that the city was the beneficiary of these increases when in fact the city receives only about seven cents of every dollar paid locally in property taxes.”
Xenia has experienced recent growth in new housing, commercial and industrial expansion across the city, Merriman said, which has resulted in strong growth in the city’s income tax revenue.
“The positive cash flow we have experienced can offset this loss in property tax revenue, so we do not anticipate any staffing reductions or major services cuts,” he said. “However, City Council had expected to invest revenue from (the) new tax base in much-needed street rehabilitation. Moving forward, this will not be an option and cuts to our capital program for street paving will need to be made.”
Xenia City Council will be finalizing its 2025 budget, including any cuts, before the end of the year, Merriman said, adding that any future conversation on funding needs would be taken up by the new Council almost immediately in January.
Greeneview Schools
Greeneview’s third and final attempt at a combined bond issue and permanent improvement levy was rejected by close to a 60-40 ratio. The district had hoped for local levy passage so it could get money from the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission to build a new school.
Since the bond issue failed a third time, the district’s window to partner with the state for school construction money is closed, until its number is drawn again by the OFCC, according to district documents.
Greeneview had removed athletic facilities from its plans this time, focusing instead entirely on academic spaces, bringing the total cost of the project down to about $28 million.
The ballot issue would have cost a homeowner an additional $109 per $100,000 of appraised home value annually.
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