BEAVERCREEK TOWNSHIP — The Beavercreek Township posed Issue 14, a .90 mill levy on the ballot for additional funds to cover police services in November. The levy failed by 58 votes and was contested. After a recount by the Greene County Board of Elections, the levy passed by 13 votes.
“The additional tax continuing levy will generate an additional $238,000 for police services. It will help maintain the current level of service and expand the operations that are provided through a cost-effective contract with the Greene County Sheriff’s office,” Beavercreek Township Administrator Alex Zaharieff said. “The Greene County Sheriff’s Office Beavercreek Township sub-station provides our community with the highest quality services at the least cost possible.”
The November final levy count was 2,232 votes for the levy and 2,290 against it. Since the vote included votes in the incorporated areas such as the City of Beavercreek and portions of Fairborn and Kettering (voters in Precincts 214, 224, 226 in Fairborn and 90-2 in Kettering), the failure was contested and the township demanded a recount.
“The final count included 695 voters in Precincts 214, 224 and 226 in Fairborn and 90-2 in Kettering,” Zaharieff said. “Each of these Precincts are within the boundaries of Beavercreek Township but receive services by each city’s respective police force. On Jan. 17, 2017, the final vote (unincorporated area of the Township) was 1,920 for the levy and 1,907 against.”
Historically, in 1957, the Beavercreek Township Trustees approved the formation of a police department to serve the township. In 1980, after the incorporation of the City of Beavercreek, the Township Police Department converted to the City of Beavercreek Police Department but continued serving the township’s needs. The partnership continued until 2002, after a proposed 3.7 mill police levy failed. Because of the failure, the City of Beavercreek could no longer afford to support both the City and the Township- leaving the Township to find a cost-effective solution.
The township was still receiving police revenue from two continuing levies that passed in 1976 and 1978, which afforded them to employ the services of the Greene County Sheriff’s Office. Throughout the years, the partnership worked well and the township has been able to benefit from services, expertise and policing services that smaller police departments typically can’t afford.
However, over the years, police fund revenues have significantly decreased but the cost has not. “The fund revenues have decreased by 37.75% due to the State Funding cuts in 2011 and the reduction in taxable property,” Zaharieff said. “We’ve been successful in stretching these levy dollars for 38 years.”
The Beavercreek Township Sheriff’s Office substation located in the lower level of Fire Station #61, located at 2195 Dayton-Xenia Road, practices community oriented policing that forges a partnership between law enforcement and businesses, residents, schools, and community organizations. These partnerships and other low-cost efforts are coordinated by the Sheriff Deputies that are assigned to the township substation.
“The Deputies educate residents and businesses about crime prevention and work with them to keep neighborhoods and business districts safe. The Deputies help residents who are away on vacation by conducting “vacation house checks” and many other things,” said Zahaieff.
