“Of course we’re disappointed, but that’s a pretty clear message as far as I’m concerned, getting beat that badly,” said township trustee Vice President Joe Clark.
The main purpose of the 1-mill levy was to add a third shift to the township’s police department. Currently, the township’s three full-time officers and three part-timers work from 8 a.m. to midnight, leaving the Clark County Sheriff’s Office to cover the night shift.
The vote will not trigger any cuts to the police department, since the department is currently funded with an existing 1-mill levy that brings in $125,000 a year.
“I’m not surprised,” police Chief William Dickerson said of the results.
“So many people just said they couldn’t afford any more taxes,” he said. “It’s just a sign of the times, I think.”
Township leaders said they’ll have to discuss the results and see what the next steps are.
Dickerson said the same levy has been voted down before. And despite expecting it to be voted down again, the township decided to let voters decide on it since it has been discussed for some time.
Clark and Dickerson have both worried that the sheriff’s office has been stretched thin by state and county budget cuts in recent years.
There has been no decision made to go back to voters with another levy, Clark said. But if they do, he said, “we’d just have to work a little harder to get the message out.”
Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0374.
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