Miami Twp. to place renewal police levy on ballot this March
Miami Twp. residents will see a police levy on the ballot this March.
Township trustees voted 2-0 Tuesday evening to place a renewal levy on the ballot, one that will not increase their taxes. Trustee John Morris was absent.
The new levy, if approved by voters, would renew a 5.5mill levy approved by voters in May 2019, one that generates approximately $3.4 million a year. It will keep township income from the levy the same.
A replacement levy that the township considered, but ended up scuttling, would have increased taxes and township income from the levy.
“The great thing about levies is that the trustees only make a recommendation,” Trustee President Terry Posey Jr. told Dayton Daily News. “It’s the citizens that get to have a direct impact in their community — specifically the quality of their police force. The township staff worked hard to make sure the request being made was as minimal a burden as possible while maintaining the present staffing levels.”
Miami Twp. Police Department uses levy funds for various purposes, such as paying police officers, acquiring cruisers and equipment, funding training programs, and covering day-to-day operating expenses.
“We want to have the best police department in the area, but coming from a taxpayer base that just approved a new fire district levy, and just approved an increase in the last police levy, it is my inclination to support renewal at this stage,” Posey said.
The township received nearly $6.5 million in property tax receipts from the two police levies combined in 2023, according to Finance Director Clay McCord. The current budget for the police department is slightly more than $7.3 million, according to Miami Twp. Police Chief Charlie Stiegelmeyer.