Library levy fails in Putnam County

OTTAWA — The Putnam County Library levy went down with a resounding no by voters according to preliminary results in Tuesday’s election.

Nearly 65 percent of the voters voted against the proposed 0.87 mill, five-year new levy placed on the ballot by the Putnam Country District Library Board.

“Obviously we’re very disappointed,” board president Keith Kahle said. “My only thought is there was a lot of misinformation and confusion concerning the levy and certainly that was a factor in it not passing.”

The levy was defeated 4,663 votes for and 8,581 votes against the levy.

“At this point we’re not anticipating any changes,” Kahle said. “Obviously we can’t restore any cuts that have previously been made.”

He did not anticipate any changes until July when the state enacts its biennium budget.

“Then we’ll have to see what is budgeted for libraries and see what happens with that,” Kahle said.

Brookhill Superintendent Bill Clifford was happy with the results of the 0.5 mill replacement five-year levy for the Developmental Disabilities Board in Putnam County. Sixty-two percent of the voters gave their approval for the levy.

“I’m happy with the high percentage of positive votes,” Clifford said. “It shows that the Putnam County community is happy with what we do at Brookhill and we’re proud of what we do.”

Clifford said the board would continue to “run as it has been.”

“I know that sometimes it’s tough to vote yes on a levy and I just want to say thanks to the community for their significant support.”

Putnam county voters were also generous with their approval of other levies on Tuesday’s ballot. The villages of Columbus Grove, Continental and Glandorf received voter approval for their renewal levies.

All eight township levies on the ballot also passed. Blanchard, Greensburg, Monterey, Palmer, Perry, Pleasant and Van Buren townships all received a majority vote to pass their levies.

Continental voters narrowly defeated a proposal to allow Sunday liquor sales at the Main Stop. The unofficial results showed 49.57 percent were in favor of the proposal and 50.43 percent were against.

Two school levies, Pandora-Gilboa and Ottawa-Glandorf, also received voter approval.