The Delaware Township Board of Trustees is asking voters to renew a five-year, 0.8-mill road maintenance levy that currently cost the owner of a $100,000 home $19.48 annually. If approved, the levy would commence in 2018 and would first be collected in the calendar year of 2019.
According to Trustee Roger Van Sickle, who has been a Delaware Township trustee for 39 years, the township is currently responsible for 11.7 miles of road, but he added there are roads scheduled for construction, which will bring the total up to approximately 14 miles.
“Safety is our main concern,” he said. “We have really improved the roads. Ninety percent are now asphalt.”
Van Sickle said before using strictly asphalt, the township was laying down chip seal to extend the life of the roads.
“I think the people are generally happy with the roads,” he said. “Especially with the snow removal.”
Van Sickle said trustees try to be prudent with tax dollars, and the levy has been reduced a couple of times in millage since it was originally enacted. However, with the increase in oil prices, it is back up to where it started. He said the levy has been at 0.8 mills for the last 12 years.
“Just to repave one mile of road it costs over $100,000,” he said. “We spend $110,000 to $140,000 in street maintenance, snow removal, culverts and repairs.”
Van Sickle said to help supplement the road levy revenues, the township applies for state and federal grants.
The ballot language states, “A renewal of a tax for the benefit of Delaware Township, Delaware County, Ohio for the purpose of general construction, reconstruction, resurfacing and repair of roads at a rate not exceeding 0.8 mill for each one dollar of valuation, which amounts to $0.08 for each one hundred dollars of valuation, for 5 years, commencing in 2018, first due in calendar year 2019. A majority affirmative vote is necessary for passage.”
