Most suburban levies approved

Sylvania rec district request barely OK’d; Metamora rejects parks plan

A voter leaves the Sylvania district's McCord Junior High School after casting his ballot.

Most of the tax levies and other local issues on Tuesday’s ballot in the Toledo suburbs passed, but Metamora voters rejected a new tax for parks and recreation, and an additional tax for the Sylvania Area Joint Recreation District passed narrowly.

Oregon voters approved a city charter amendment that doubles, from two years to four, the length of city council terms and staggers them. Similar proposals had been defeated twice before.

Among the biggest tax levies to pass were a 4-mill continuing tax for fire and emergency medical service in Perrysburg Township and a 2.35-mill, 20-year bond levy for a fire station in Grand Rapids Township, both in Wood County.

Police levies in Lake Township and Millbury also passed. Millbury voters approved a 1-mill levy to pay about $20,000 of the $62,000 the village pays annually to Lake for police coverage, while Lake voters approved replacement of a 1.4-mill police levy that dated to 1982.

The owner of a $100,000 home in Millbury will pay about $30.63 for the new levy, while the annual police-tax bill for a similar home in Lake will rise from about $12.94 to $42.88.

But in Metamora, a five-year, half-mill parks and recreation levy fell and voters in Sylvania and Sylvania Township passed a 0.4-mill recreation district levy by just 508 votes out of more than 27,000 cast, according to unofficial returns. That tax will cost a $100,000 home owner $12.25 per year.

The Oregon charter amendment passed by more than 1,400 votes, out of 8,678 ballots cast.

The top three vote-getters in next year’s municipal election will be seated for four years, and the next four will be seated for two years and be eligible to seek four-year terms in 2015.

In Rossford, city council will have authority to waive the bond requirement for city officials and employees who handle public funds.

Waterville amendments revise residency requirements for the mayor and city council and establish their pay to be “fixed by ordinance or resolution” rather than at least a minimum set by the state. Council members will be able to reduce their pay during a current term, but any pay raises would not take effect until after the next election. Waterville’s amendments also establish a city Civil Service Commission and allow carry-over balances to be considered in budgeting.

Grand Rapids’ fire-station bond levy and the 4-mill tax in Perrysburg Township were among several successful emergency-services taxes in the area.

Monclova Township voters approved a combined replacement and increase of their fire levy, from 1.5 to 2.3 mills, that will boost the tax bill for a $100,000 home to $70.44 from $40.01 annually. Washington Township voters approved renewal of a 2-mill, five-year fire levy.

Berkey voters agreed to replace an 0.75-mill general operations levy with a five-year, 3-mill tax.

In Elmore, voters approved two levy renewals: 3 mills for five years for general operations and 2.5 mills for three years for street maintenance and improvements.

Genoa’s 1.3-mill levy for Veterans’ Memorial Park operations was renewed for five years, while Benton Township voters passed a five-year renewal of a 0.5-mill cemetery tax.