Mayor, council hope for seven-day, 24-hour service

PROCTORVILLE — In the penultimate meeting of the current make-up of Proctorville’s village council, solutions to the issue of police funding were the focus of discussion.

Mayor Rick Dunfee said the village is weighing a property tax levy to pay for police services, to be placed on the 2018 primary ballot.

Dunfee said for any levy to make the ballot, it must be submitted 90 days before the May 8 primary.

Fiscal officer Darrell Legg said such a levy would enable the village to provide police services seven days a week, 24 hours a day, something that is currently not available.

Council member Dale Burcham said he inquired about a 3-mill levy, which he said would cost $25.50 per year on a home valued at $25,000, $52.50 on a home valued at $50,000 and $78.75 on a home valued at $75,000.

“There aren’t many in homes in Proctorville valued at more than $100,00,” he said, adding that the village would get 100 percent of funds raised by a police levy.

Burcham said part of the reason for the need is that villages do not receive as much money from the state as they did in the past.

“All these monies are running out,” he said. “The state doesn’t send them down and they put them in a rainy day fund. But it’s pouring here.”

Fiscal officer Darrell Legg said the goal is to raise $30,000 per year through the levy.

“If we had this kind of relief, it would help build us up,” he said. “Though, the downside is, even if it passes, it’s going to be at least one to two years until we realize it.”

Legg said funds collected in 2018 would not be available until 2019.

He said getting a levy on the ballot is a two-step process – first, a resolution must be passed, authorizing the village to request from the county an auditing certificate for a rate. Then, the council would have to write up a resolution for the levy, which would be passed on a three-read rule.

Burcham called for the first resolution, for a 3-mill levy “for protection of this village.”

The mayor and council also discussed other possible sources of revenue.

Council member Brian Root proposed the creation of an impound guard.

“We need to think about it,” he said, citing its success in other villages in the county. “It would get revenue coming in, and it may get us a free vehicle.”

Burcham again advised the council to consider setting fees for medical marijuana, which has been legalized in Ohio.

“Whether we like it or not, it’s going to be coming,” he said of the opening of dispensaries. “The legislature passed it. I don’t like it, but we could get a fee set up.”

Dunfee said it may take as long as seven years before a dispensary would open in the region, but agreed with Burcham.

“I think it’s something we do need to take a look at,” he said.

In other business, the village:

• Passed appropriations and a budget.

• Approved for Dunfee to negotiate with the gas company for work in the village.

• Set next month’s meeting of council for at 8 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 14. The meeting was moved from its original date, which conflicted with a Christmas party Proctorville hosts for children in the village.