Port Authority prepares for levy

Legislation redone to start ballot process

The Lorain Port Authority will gear up for a levy campaign in 2019.

On Nov. 13, the Port board voted 9-0 to approve the first resolution needed to put a 1-mill renewal levy on the May 7, 2019, ballot. The levy would have a term of five years.

Port board members had relatively little discussion on the resolution, which technically was a do-over from a board vote on a similar resolution in October.

Accountant Yvonne Smith said the new resolution was needed to correct some phrasing in the necessary legal language.

Smith also explained the procedure to put the issue up for a vote.

The resolution asks the Lorain County Auditor’s Office to certify the tax value of property in Lorain and the amount of money a 1-mill levy would raise, she said.

Once the auditor responds with the necessary information, the Port board must consider another resolution to place the issue on the ballot.

If approved by voters, the levy would begin in 2019, with collection based on the 2019 property taxes paid in 2020.

By Ohio law, the Port Authority has a one-mill limit on levies, Smith said previously.

The Port gets revenues from a one-mill levy voters approved in 2014.

The Port’s levy is estimated to bring in $815,363 for 2019.

The levy makes up about 80 percent to 85 percent of the agency’s annual budget, although that figure may be up to 90 percent of the budget, depending on what resources are available, Smith said.

The levy pays for operations, and when possible, matching funds for grants that bring more money into Lorain, she said.

Since the Port started in 1964, historically, it has at least a 100 percent match in grant funding.

That means for every $1 in levy money approved by the public, the Port has scored at least $1 in matching grant money for various projects, Smith said.