Police levy increase proposed on ballot

Strasburg residents will vote on Issue 1, a property tax renewal with an increase. The levy is a replacement of a 1.5-mill, five-year police levy with an increase of 0.8 mills.

Residents are being asked to approve a 2.3-mill, five-year levy that will appear on the March 19 primary ballot for police protection services. The 1.5-mill levy has expired; however, taxes are always collected a year behind. It will collect about $62,000 in 2024 for equipment only. Police wages and benefits are currently paid from the general fund.

The 1.5-mill, five-year levy was passed in 1994, and the owner of a $100,000 house pays about $17.79 annually for police protection. If approved, the increase on a $100,000 house would be about $80 per year, an increase of $62 annually or less. The collection would begin Jan. 1, 2025.

If residents approve the levy, it would generate about $181,000 annually and be used to offset the police wages and benefits and purchase equipment. The 2024 appropriations for the police budget are $645,500 annually. The total spent for police in 2023 was $573,485.

Some expenses incurred by the police are computer services at $720 per month and gasoline for the cruisers at $1,300 per month. Strasburg was the first police department in the area to install body cameras. They cost about $1,000 each, and there are 10 cameras available.

Since 1994 costs and equipment have increased such as laptops in the cruisers and office, internet services, body cameras, tasers, better weapons, additional police training, ballistic vests, and cruisers.

In 1994 a cruiser cost about $23,000, The police purchased a 2023 Chevrolet Tahoe, which cost $55,681 with an additional $15,000-$20,000 for installed equipment. Police maintain four police cruisers.

The village has six full-time police officers and shares a school resource officer with Strasburg-Franklin Local Schools. Police Chief Dave Warrick is in his fifth year as chief. He was hired as a police officer in 2014. The other officers include Sgt. Brandon Warman; police officers Connor Bailey, Kayla Morrison, Nathan Wood and Benjamin Robb; and several part-time officers. Alison Rosenberg is the SRO. The school district provides a portion of her salary. She began duties in January. The police serve the village 24/7.

“I love the people I work with. They have a lot of passion for this job. All the officers are here to make our community safer,” Warrick said. “We have a larger increase in traffic enforcement, and the call volume has increased. People outside the village are coming in and ruining the peace for the community. All our officers are proactive and love their jobs and truly support the village.”

Police have been responding to over 200 calls a month. Warrick said they wrote about 3,000 tickets in 2023; however, they receive less than $10 a ticket, and sometimes they receive nothing.

Warrick said the three-lane concept makes the traffic more organized, and it is easier to travel through the village. There have been less accidents on Wooster Avenue, which is U.S. 250/Ohio 21, since the three lanes were added.

“We need the police levy to pass. The police receive training each year, ammunition is costly, and police must keep up to date on classes and training,” Mayor Bruce Metzger said. “We replace cruisers every couple of years so we do not need to replace three at once. We are trying to make sure our officers are safe.”

“I love my job. This is a good community to work in. People treat me fairly. The village owes the residents police protection,” Warman said.