WAPAKONETA — Pusheta Township residents approved an additional tax levy for fire and EMS protection by an overwhelming margin Tuesday in Auglaize County.
Township fiscal officer Brian Schlosser said that it simply had gotten to where the income generated for protection had fallen below what contracts called for.
The 1,300 residents of the township are supported by contracted services to area fire departments for protection as the township does not have its own fire department. Three levies of 0.5, 0.5 and 1 mill generate about $31,000 to contract services through the Botkins Fire Department, Anna EMS and the St. Johns Fire Department. However, the cost to ensure those services have gradually stretched beyond what the levies generate. The new levy will generate about $40,000 in revenue for the services.
•Minster Local School District voters approved both a 1 percent income tax renewal and 0.8 mill renewal levy on the ballot by overwhelming margins.
The income tax, which generates $1.6 million per year, will finance renovations to the 1965 and 1988 junior/senior high school building, including securing the entrance, upgrading technology and finding energy efficiencies. Minster only needs to pay $6.8 million of the proposed $18 million project, as the state will pitch in 20 percent and the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission has a $7.6 million credit earned during the construction of the current elementary school back in 2000. The levy was extended from five to 15 years.
The permanent-improvement levy has been in place for more than 40 years and continues to pay for ongoing improvements and repair of facilities and generates $33,102 per year.
•In precinct 1-B in St. Marys, residents approved an option to allow Sunday sales of beer, wine, mixed beverages and spirituous liquor at Bartlett’s Drive Thru.
•In St. Marys precinct 2-A, residents voted to allow Sunday sales of alcohol at Pantry Pride Market.
•Several countywide people ran unopposed, including: John Bergman, county commissioner; Donald Regula, county commissioner; Edwin Pierce, prosecuting attorney; I. Jean Meckstroth, clerk of courts; Allen Solomon, sheriff; Christina Lambert, county recorder; April Bowersock, county treasurer; Douglas Reinhart, county engineer; Thomas Freytag, coroner; and Frederick Pepple, Common Pleas Court judge.
