The Village of Ashley is asking voters to renew a tax levy that will enable the village to continue road maintenance in the community. Voters will have their say on the matter when they hit the polls Tuesday, March 17.

The 3-mill levy renewal would continue costing residents 30 cents for every $100 of property evaluation. The levy cycle is for two years beginning in 2020 and first due in 2021.

“This would be for paving projects within the village,” Ashley Mayor Jim Nelson told The Gazette. “We’ve been trying to pick out a couple of roads each year within the village to pave. Because if we don’t, we’re going to have infrastructure problems, chuckholes, that sort of thing.”

Nelson added, “Paving has gotten so expensive that we have to do it a little bit at a time or we’ll never get it. We just can’t afford it.”

Nelson said the roads that have been selected to receive the next round of repairs are East Taylor Street and South Street.

The levy has been a mainstay on the ballot since before Nelson joined Ashley Village Council in 2008, he said. The millage rate has remained at 3 mills, which the community has repeatedly shown it is willing to support. However, Nelson said there is never any certainty when it comes to ballot measures, and as he put it, “You keep your fingers crossed that it will (pass).”

Referencing an editorial he read regarding other levies that will be on the ballot in Delaware County this month, Nelson said those who are 65 years and older and retired think they know what they have to fall back on. But with taxes, he said there always seems to be something new every year that asks residents to pay more.

“We try not to do that to village residents, and we try to keep it so that it is something they can afford and help the village out,” Nelson said.