The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Madison voters to decide fate of 0.64-mill rec levy
Community’s Joint Recreation District seeks passage in March 17 primary of issue to raise $250,114 per year
Madison Joint Recreation District is working to secure passage of an additional levy in the March 17primary.
The Madison Joint Recreation District is working to secure passage of a 0.64-mill additional levy in the March 17 primary election.
The Recreation District board said revenue from the levy would be devoted to improving recreational opportunities for both children and adults, which would help to strengthen the entire Madison area.
“Our idea is to be able to use that money to really help the community, whether it’s recreational needs of youth sports programs, whatever it is,” said Recreation Board Chairman John Dragas, who spoke about the levy during a recent Madison Village Council meeting. “It’s hard to put on quality events and programs without that revenue stream, and we felt like this was the time for us to make that request to the community.”
If approved, the levy would raise about $250,114 in annual revenue and cost taxpayers $22.40 per $100,000 in property valuation, according to the Lake County Auditor’s Office. The levy would be a permanent issue, and not require renewal after its initial passage.
Recreation Board Vice Chairman Duane Frager said the “game plan” for using levy revenue involves short-, intermediateand long-term goals.
“The short-term plank, or Phase 1, will be shoring up our events series and making (the events) financially stable,” Frager said.
Two of the district’s most popular and well-attended annual events are held in Madison Village Park. Septemberfest is a craft beer and wine festival while Christmas in Madison Village Park features a parade, yuletide music, free snacks and beverages, and an appearance by Santa Claus, who listens to the wishes of all children who want to meet with him.
Late last year, the rec board also took charge of the annual Light up the Park fireworks celebration, which is held the Sunday before Labor Day at Madison Township Park.
A new event sponsored by the rec board coming this year is Halftembefest — a German-themed beer and food festival slated for 6 to 11 p.m. March 14 at Stanton Park in Madison Township. The event got its name because it’s a half year away from Septemberfest, Frager explained.
With its continuing desire to innovate and create, the board is transforming its annual Sports Day into a Recreation & Arts Day; and is looking at starting an Outdoor Movie Series.
Frager emphasized that the board strives to sponsor events that appeal to a variety of age groups and are held throughout the Madison area.
“For us, for the rec board, Madison is Madison, so we want to make sure we have things going on all over this area, not just in Village Park … we want adult events, we want family events, but we want to make sure they’re happening all over the place,” he said.
Intermediate goals would include hiring a recreation director, who would support the event series and all affiliated youth sports programs; a marketing program for the events series; and using levy revenue as matching funds to secure grants, which could increase overall funding for community recreation.
When it comes to longterm goals, the board is seeking to use levy revenue to work with the three entities within the rec district — Madison Village and Township and Madison Schools — to upgrade parks and recreational facilities throughout Madison.
“And we have a number of ideas,” Frager said. “We’ve had a couple of different workshops. We probably have 15-20 ideas of things we can possibly do.”
Carrying out these ideas, however, will involve dialogue and coordination with each of the entities served by the rec district, Dragas pointed out.
“Obviously, there would be a lot of communication between us and the three entities as to what the goals would be,” he said. “But I think it would be a great problem to have. To have the levy pass and then have to work with the three entities as to how we can make everything in the community stronger.”
The recreation district is an independent government entity whose board is composed of representatives from the village, township and Madison Schools. At-large members also are appointed by the board itself. If the levy passes, the rec district would be the sole recipient of levy revenue and be accountable for how the money is used.
If the levy would fail, the rec board won’t be deterred in its quest to improve and expand recreational opportunities for all residents of Madison, Frager noted.
“We’ll still be able to do some things, but maybe not as fast as we would like,” he said. “And maybe it might take a little bit more time, or in some cases, a lot longer, to get the endgame.”
As of Feb. 14, 11,243 registered voters in the Madison Joint Recreation District were eligible to decide the additional parks and recreation levy on the March 17 ballot.