Voters in Ashland, Geauga, Lake and Medina counties showed overwhelming support for county park levies for operations, maintenance and potential expansion efforts.
According to unofficial results, Lake County passed a 10-year renewal levy, which would cover nearly half of Lake Metroparks' operating budget, while park districts in Ashland, Geauga and Medina passed renewal levies with increases.
Ashland County Park District
Voters in Ashland County voted to renew its 0.5 mill levy and increase it by an additional 0.3 mill. The levy is expected to generate $1.3 million for the park district over the next six years, according to the Ashland County Auditor.
The levy passed Tuesday with 52% of the vote. Under the current 0.5 mill levy, property owners pay $11.28 annually per $100,000 of property valuation. The new 0.8 mill levy will cost an additional $10.50 per year.
"We're really grateful for the residents of Ashtabula County," Ashland County Park District Executive Director Eric Schneider said. "Their continued trust and support in us means a lot to us and together we'll continue preserving natural spaces and creating opportunities to explore and enjoy the outdoors for generations to come."
The 2,500-acre park district intends to use the funding to increase educational programming, expanding its paved trail network and maintenance efforts.
"It ensures that we can maintain the community's investment in our parks," Schneider said. "The funding also allows us to build on our recent successes, like the Davey McClure Outdoor Education Center and some of the new trails that we've been paving throughout the park district. So just continuing that great work we've doing."
Geauga County Park District
The Geauga County Park District was successful Tuesday in its renewal and increase levy.
Geauga's Issue 17 passed with just over 50% of the vote. It calls for the renewal of a 0.7 mill levy with a 0.5 mill increase, for a total of 1.2 mills. Tax dollars make up the entirety of the Geauga County Park District's budget, Executive Director John Oros said, but this is the first increase for the park district since 2000. In that time, the park district has grown to nearly 11,000 acres across 28 parks in the county.
The cost for homeowners will increase under the new levy from $6 annually per $100,000 of a property's appraised value to about $23 annually and is expected to generate a total of $3,384,359 for the park district through 2046.
The funding from the levy passed Tuesday funds will be used to upgrade aging park infrastructure, invest in new shelter facilities, improve trail systems and remodel the West Woods Nature Center and the Rookery’s shelter and playground.
Lake Metroparks
Lake County voters showed support for its county park levy, with 67% voting to renew Lake Metroparks' 1.9 mill park levy.
The out-of-pocket cost for property owners will remain the same, at about $35 per year for each $100,000 of a property's appraised value.
Revenue generated from the levy makes up about 45% of the district's operating budget and has supported numerous projects and programs for the Lake County parks in the past, including the first two phases of its two-mile Lakefront Trail project.
"We are opening, here in the next two days, the second phase of the lakefront trail between Paintsville Township Park and Fairport," Executive Director Paul Palagyi said. "We are engineering right now the third phase that will finish off the trail across that two mile stretch and this will allow us to keep going forward on that."
The renewal and increase levy is expected to generate $11.6 million for the Metroparks over a 10-year period, and will support the third phase of the lakefront trail along with youth, senior and family programs across the park district.
"A lot of those events have just become a staple in people's outdoor activities," Palagyi said. "We really appreciate the strong statement that the voters of Lake County made that they see the value and want to continue to make this investment in their Lake Metroparks."
Medina County Park District
A renewal and increase levy passed in Medina County to provide guaranteed funding for the Medina County Park District through 2036. The levy passed with 55% of the vote, increasing its current 1 mill to 1.25 mills.
"We have 41 livelihoods, 41 individual employees who .... work for the Park District," Executive Director Nate Eppink said. "We are community leaders. We've got good relationships with many townships and villages and our cities, and they're looking for us to create connections, continue to improve quality of life."
The current levy, passed with 60% of the vote in 2015, generates about $5 million for the Medina County Park District each year. The levy passed Tuesday will cost residents $31 each year per 100,000 of property valuation, and is expected to generate $6.7 million for the district annually.
The levy excludes Hinckley Township which is covered by the Cleveland Metroparks.
Rising cost required to maintain the districts 9,000 acres and 25 parks and preserves is the primary reason for the increase, Eppink said. The additional funds will be used to fund projects outlined in the Medina County Park District's 10-year strategic plan, including projects at Killbuck Lake, Chippewa Lake and Lake Medina and other parts of the park district.
"We've also promised that we'll build a new park in Granger Township and a new Park in Liverpool Township," Eppink said, "as well as continuing to preserve land strategically — resource rich properties, woods, wetlands — that we need for quality of life, water and air quality, and those places that attract people to our parks."
The park district plans to use the funds to bring additional programs and activities to its parks, Eppink said, including archery, disk golf and mountain biking, while it continues to pursue state grants to support continued conservation and expansion.
