This election cycle, The Butler County ballot has 11 different tax levies on it. They range from funding for different Butler County school districts to fire, police and other public service levies. The primary tax levies that affect the Oxford community are Issue 2, Issue 10 and Issue 12 – levies that fund services directly used by Miami University students.
Issue 2 – City of Oxford Fire & EMS
Issue 2 concerns funding for the maintenance of facilities and staffing for Oxford’s fire and EMS. A “YES” vote would permit the City of Oxford to collect roughly $1.27 million annually to fund fire apparatuses, ambulance equipment, appliances, buildings, sites, permanent and part-time firefighting and EMS staff and administrative costs. This would be an increase from the existing levy. This levy would tax at a rate no higher than $91 per $100,000 of property value. A “NO” vote would not add additional funding to the City of Oxford Fire & EMS services.
Issue 10 – Lane Public Library
Issue 10 is a vote concerning a Lane Public Library tax levy renewal, which would renew a $750,000 continually operating tax levy to fund the Lane Public Libraries in Hamilton, Fairfield and Oxford. A “YES” vote for the levy would indefinitely continue a city-level tax that was first created in 2010 to supplement a decrease in state-level funding for public libraries. Renewing this tax would not add a new tax, but merely continue the existing funding line, which sits at $15.33 per $100,000 in property value. A “NO” vote would discontinue this tax levy. The most recent vote on this issue occurred in 2015, when 98% of Oxford voters voted “YES” and 2% voted “NO.”
Issue 12 – Mental Health and Addiction Recovery Services Board
Issue 12 is a vote concerning an additional tax levy to fund the Mental Health and Addiction Recovery Services Board, a measure that would allocate an additional $500,000 to an existing levy that funds the board. Created after the Mental Health Act of 1988, the Mental Health and Addiction Recovery Services Board maintains programs that address the prevention, treatment and recovery processes for Butler County residents, families and communities in need of mental health or addiction resources. A “YES” vote for the levy would raise the existing city-level tax that funds this board from $4.83 to $17.50 per $100,000 in property value for five years. A “NO” vote for this levy would not raise the existing levy, keeping the tax rate at $4.83 per $100,000 in property value.
perkins16@miamioh.edu
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