No levy or issue filed has been certified yet by the Butler County Board of Elections. The board is expected to consider levies and issues for certification at its Aug. 17 meeting. Not all tax issues on the ballot have been filed yet, but must be done so by 4 p.m. on Aug. 5.
Butler County commissioners previously approved resolutions to place a pair of levy renewals on the November ballot.
The first is renewing the five-year, 1-mill mental health levy managed by the Mental Health and Addiction Recovery Services Board. It generates $7.5 million a year. The MHARS Board oversees the county mental health and addiction system and provides funding, strategic planning, quality assurance and needs assessments for outside service providers. One out of 10 county residents, or 35,000 people, were impacted by the board’s services in 2019.
The second is the five-year, 1.3-mill elderly services levy managed by the Council on Aging. The elderly services levy generates $10 million a year for the Elderly Service Program, which provides programming for seniors so they can stay at home as long as possible. The agency in 2019 served 4,121 clients and pays for services like transportation, meals, mental health, adult day services, housekeeping and repairs.
Middletown voters are expected to see tax issue issue as City Council approved last week a proposed 10-year, 0.25 percent income tax levy. The levy will generate around $3 million per year will be dedicated to street and road repairs, and resurfacing. Legislation that allows the city to file the tax issue was approved by a 4-1 last week with Mayor Nicole Condrey voting against it.
West Chester Twp. Trustees are expected to vote Tuesday to place a pair of new 2-mill levies on the ballot, to help fund the police and fire departments. Each levy would generate about $4.4 million and is in addition to the current police and fire levies.
Other issues filed with the board of elections include a renewal of Milford Twp.‘s five-year, 2-mill fire levy, and renewal of Morgan Twp.‘s five-year, 2.75-mill fire levy.
The village of New Miami has a pair of issues, but they are for electric and natural gas aggregation, which allows residents to form a buying group to combine natural gas or electric usage. It’s designed to allow residents to have bargaining power in hopes of securing lower rates.
Parts of a pair of out-of-county districts also have issues on the ballot.
Filed in Warren County, the few Butler County residents in the Mason City School District will see nine requests to reduce levies within the district. Filed in Montgomery County, the Miami Valley Career Technical Vocational School District is asking voters for a 10-year, 2.18-mill levy for expenses.
The city of Hamilton has as many as 14 proposed charter amendments city officials intend to place on the November ballot, but the Ohio Constitution allows charter amendment questions to be filed between 120 and 60 days prior to the election. City Council is expected to vote on them on Aug. 12.
BUTLER COUNTY RACES
Here are the eight contested races voters will see on the Nov. 3 general election ballot (all have been either nominated in the partisan primary or certified to be on the ballot):
President: Republican Donald Trump/Mike Pence (i), Democrat Joseph Biden Jr./TBA, Libertarian TBA
8th Congressional District: Republican Warren Davidson (i), Democrat Vanessa Enoch, write-in candidate Isaac Reed (but his name will not appear on the ballot)
Supreme Court Justice: Sharon Kennedy (i), John P. O’Donnell
Supreme Court Justice: Jennifer Brunner, Judi French (i)
4th Ohio Senate District: Republican George Lang, Democrat Kathy Wyenandt
52nd Ohio House District: Republican Jennifer Gross, Democrat Chuck Horn
53rd Ohio House District: Republican Thomas Hall, Democrat Michell Novak
54th Ohio House District: Republican Paul Zeltwanger (i), Democrat Morgan Showen
NOTE: Incumbents designated with (i)
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