GEORGETOWN, Ohio — After the return of the Aberdeen Police levy to the ballot on Tuesday, the results indicate there are still a majority against the tax.
Among voters in Aberdeen, 231 voted in favor of the police levy, more than 47 percent, while 259, more than 52 percent, voted against it.
The levy has been a hot button topic among residents of the village, with the results looking very similar to the levy’s iteration on the May 8 ballot earlier this year, where Aberdeen voters ultimately voted 179-129 against the levy; 58 percent of voters voted against, and 42 percent of voters voted for.
This current iteration of the levy is not a carbon copy of its predecessor, however, as the amount of the ordinance has reduced the levy to 3 mills per year for a continuing period. A 3 mill levy on a market value home of a $100,000 would be $91.86 annually or $45.93 every six months.
According to Aberdeen Police Chief Brian Benjamin, if the levy had been voted in by Aberdeen residents, an expected $55,000-$60,000 would have been generated to fund exclusively the police department.
Anything ranging from equipment costs to hiring and paying new officers would have been funded by the levy.
