You can register to vote at your county Board of Elections office or online at MyOhioVote.com/VoterRegistration. You can also go there to update a current registration.
Early voting starts Tuesday, April 4. You can vote in-person at your county Board of Elections office or by mail. To vote by mail, you will need to request an absentee ballot from your county.
Central Connections Executive Director Monica Smith told the Journal-News the levy is needed to help continue to pay down on the mortgage on the building so the agency can concentrate on serving the public.
The organization had a 1-mill, five-year levy on the ballot in 2012, which was overwhelmingly supported, and was also intended to pay down that debt.
RELATED: 3 questions about Middletown senior services levy
“So far there’s been a lot of positivity around it,” Smith said.
Smith and members of the Citizens to Renew the Senior Center Levy committee has spoken to a number of groups, including the county’s GOP and Democratic parties, Middletown Kiwanis, the Middletown Branch of the NAACP and United Way in Middletown, and plan to speak to other groups, like Middletown Rotary and the AK Steel retirees.
The levy committee members plan to mail out postcards soon which ask residents to vote “yes” and there will be a spaghetti dinner fundraiser from 4:30 to 7 p.m. on April 28 at Central Connections, 3907 Central Ave. Also, yard signs should be populating front yards within a week or two, Smith said.
The intent, Smith said, is to not have to go back to voters at the end of this levy. If approved, the levy will continue to cost the owner of a $100,000 home less than $30 a year, she said. It’s designed to generate roughly $662,000 each year.
Central Committee officials previously said because of funding cuts they are not able to pay off the mortgage with the current five-year levy.
CLOSER LOOK: How levy funds will be spent
The senior center’s original mortgage was $3.6 million, and all but a small portion for operation — $26,000 — exclusively went to pay down the mortgage. The levy will help pay down the remaining balance, an estimated $1.6 million, officials said.
Some Middletown council members have expressed concerns that the levy is generating twice the amoung of money needed to pay off the mortgage.
Officials previously have said the excess funds could be used for roof repairs and a fund to finance future capital needs.
There will be three other issues on the May 2 ballot, but they impact very few residents. There will be a trio tax issues for out-of-county school districts — Preble Shawnee and Miami Valley Technology Vocational districts in Preble County and Northwest in Hamilton County — each have partial precincts of voters within the county.
Warren County voters in the Carlisle Local School District is asking voters to support a nearly $49 million buidling project to help construct a new K-12 school building. Local tax payers would only need to pay for just more than $20.2 million, while the state will cover the remaining $28.7 million.
The district attempted to pass a bond/tax issue for a new facility about in 2012, but voters rejected the measure.
The new K-12 building would replace the district’s four school buildings, and include a 500-seat auditorium and a widening of Jamaica Road.
— — —
EARLY VOTING HOURS
Here are the in-office early voting hours at the Butler and Warren county boards of elections:
Beginning Tuesday, April 4, early voting is held during the week from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, on Monday through Friday.
Extended office voting hours are from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. beginning on Monday, April 24 through Friday, April 28.
Weekend voting days are from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, April 29 and 1 to 5 p.m. on Sunday, April 30.
The last day to vote early is from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, May 1.
The Butler County Board of Elections is at 8701 Princeton Road in Hamilton and the Warren County Board of Elections is at 520 Justice Drive in Lebanon.
REGISTER TO VOTE: Register online to vote
About the Author
