Belmont County Commissioners voice support for two levies on Nov. ballot
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ST. CLAIRSVILLE - Belmont County Commissioners voiced their support for two levies Wednesday, one which reduces money flowing to Senior Services and another which keeps costs the same for Belmont County 911.
On the ballot will be a Senior Services of Belmont County reduction of an existing 1 mill levy down to 0.75 mill. Belmont County 911’s 0.75 mill levy will be up for renewal.
Senior Services executive director Lisa Kazmirski said the 1 mill levy was established in 2007 and the new 0.75 mill levy would continue off the 2007 valuations.
"We will have less income from the reduction, but we hope to manage the agency on that income with the addition of the 1.5 renewal that’s due next year, with a little bit of change, and a surplus that carries forward each year. So we can bank on that when need be," Kazmirski said.
Currently, the 1 mill levy brings in $1.8 million annually. With the reduction, 75% of those funds will still come in, and Senior Services will use the money to operate the senior centers, non-emergency medical transportation, and its home delivery meal program as normal.
The 0.25-mill reduction would save tax payers roughly $450,000. The levy will amount to $15 per $100,000 of property.
Commissioner J.P. Dutton said he speaks for the entire board when he says he urges all residents to vote yes on the levy.
"We’ve seen all of the good that you do, and how well you run the agency," Dutton said.
Belmont County 911 Director Bryan Minder said his department’s renewal levy will be used for portable radio system upgrades. The portable radios are carried by all first responders as well as the radios in their vehicles and their mobile radios.
"It pays for everything from the backbone equipment at our center to all of the tower equipment, all the six towers that we have throughout the county and in West Virginia, it pays for everything for the maintenance of that system," Minder said. "Maintenance alone for our radios and radio system is over $400,000 a year. That’s for upgrades to the software, upgrades to the hardware every other year, and just a full, complete system maintenance that we have coverage on."
Minder said each radio is covered under a maintenance agreement for any repair needs.
The levy will cost taxpayers $22 per $100,000 of property and also cover the cost for NextGen 911 upgrades. NextGen 911 replaced the analog 911 system this past March, with the benefit of encrypted signals.
"We have already done our NextGen upgrade. But there are continuous costs for NextGen 911. We put in a server, computer, phone system, and all of that but eventually, within the next few years, those things are going to become obsolete. They’re going to need to be upgraded again," Minder said. "This money allows us to keep NextGen software, hardware, and everything up to date. It’s a great levy, and a great thing. Just at the beginning of this past year, we did a $4.3 million purchase of portable radios to replace all of the radios that the first responders carried."
Minder added the department was able to replace all 604 old radios thanks to levy funds.
"We were able to build that up in the levy fund and pay for it without having to do any kind of financing or anything where we need to pay interest on anything," Minder said.
He then thanked Belmont County voters for previous votes in favor of the department's levies and hopes the 0.75 mill levy will be passed in November.
Commissioner Jerry Echemann added that Belmont County voters very seldom reject any kind of a levy.
"Really, it’s very unusual when the levy gets turned down of any kind, and I think the voters realize that you have situations where, in your case, it’s absolutely essential," Echemann said.
Commissioner Vince Gianangeli said the levy is why the county's 911 system is where it is. He said he was surprised to know Belmont County leads the charge in upgrading its 911 department, with most others still using analog systems.
"I had no idea, I just figured all 88 counties are where Belmont County is, but they’re not," Gianangeli said. "They’re kind of behind the times and we are where we need to be, and we’ll continue to advance because of the voters."