Voters to see 3.4-mill road and bridge levy this November

by Laura Bednar

July 27 township trustees meeting

Bath Township trustees moved forward with placing a 3.4-mill road and bridge levy on the November ballot for “general construction, reconstruction, resurfacing and repair of streets, roads and bridges.”

Bath has an existing 2-mill road and bridge levy that expires at the end of this year. The ballot proposal asks for a renewal of the 2 mills and a 1.4-mill increase.

The five-year levy will generate $2.29 million annually, according to the Summit County Fiscal Office, and will cost taxpayers $94 per $100,000 of county-appraised property value.

Police Chief/Township Administrator Vito Sinopoli explained the increased millage came from a need for more paving resources. He added that Ohio has prohibited replacement levies, which keep the same millage but adjust collections based on current economic valuation.

Emergency calls

Trustees approved an intergovernmental agreement with Summit County for the 911 call-taker co-pilot services through April 30, 2030. This allows continued participation in the Aurelian program, an artificial intelligence program that answers non-emergency dispatch calls. Currently, the county covers the yearly fee for this program.

Sinopoli said the agreement includes a separate program from Aurelian called CORA, an AI tool that provides a checklist of standard questions for live dispatchers to refer to when answering emergency calls.