The new levy would have had the same rate — 3.5 mills — as the current levy, but would have been based on 2025 appraised Butler County property values. The current fire levy set to expire is based on 2016 property values, the year it was passed.
Bruce Henry, Hanover Twp. administrator, said the township will have a “slight overlap” with funds to operate for several months until an alternative strategy can be developed.
“There aren’t a lot of options besides cutting operations or finding an additional source of revenue since this levy failed,” Henry said.
Henry could not specify at this time what operations might be cut or what an additional source of revenue might be.
“We’re all disappointed, but we realized the environment wasn’t the best in terms of the property tax issue,” he told Journal-News. “We have to look to the future of the township, and even though it’s a temporary setback, I think the board will look for positive solutions to keep the operation going. It’s the kind of service you don’t really want cut back on if you can help it.”
“It’s something that has to be analyzed ... I don’t think any of us has an answer at this point.”
Another levy on the ballot in the future is “certainly” an option, according to Henry.
Henry also said the wording of the levy may have been misunderstood.
It stated an “additional” levy — language which is required by law — but the levy was a free standing 3.5 mill issue.
Property owners would have paid $123 for every $100,000 of a property’s appraised value, according to the auditor. The owner of a $200,000 home would have paid about $246.
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