Buckeye Lake voters to decide on replacement levy funding

Voters in the village of Buckeye Lake will be asked to consider a replacement levy to fund the village’s general fund this fall.

According to Buckeye Lake Mayor Jeryne Peterson, the five-year, fivemills levy was placed on the ballot because the village operating levy will expire at the end of 2022. A replacement levy placed on the ballot in May lost by 8 votes.

Peterson explained funding from the levy will help provide necessary services in the village, including street maintenance, snow and ice removal, mosquito spraying, cleanup and mowing of right-of-ways in the spring and summer. She added it will help fund park maintenance, equipment inspections and upgrades.

It also funds the general fund, which is how village employees are paid. Peterson said some general fund dollars also go toward police and fire protection.

“Police and fire have their own levies because with what we get, we can’t support them 100%,” she said. “Police put their own levy on a few years prior to me taking over here and fire will have one coming in May 2023.”

Buckeye Lake Council President Linda Goodman said they’ve focused their efforts on getting information about the levy to residents. She said they recently held an ice cream social in the parking lot of their village offices, where they distributed some handouts with information about the levy and answered questions for them. Goodman said they’ll also be distributing a newsletter and postcard for village residents.

“We’re not really raising the amount. People will see a little difference in the amount coming out because it’s based on the current property value,” Goodman said. “We’re not asking for more, because it’s a replacement, not a renewal.”

According to Peterson, the existing levy generates $265,645 for the village annually. The new levy, she said, will generate $363,615 annually if it passes.

Peterson said the village has budgeted so they have enough to get them by into January.

But she said if the levy doesn’t pass, the village will have to start making cuts.

“Without it, we can’t operate very efficiently – bottom line,” she said. “We’ll have to make cuts...we don’t want to do that because of everything happening, progressing and coming our way, we don’t want that to happen.”

At 7 p.m. Oct. 11, a question and answer session regarding the operational levy will be held at the recreation center at Ryan-braden Park in Buckeye Lake. Licking County Auditor Mike Smith and Deputy Auditor Brad Cottrell will be present to help answer questions.