COPLEY: A 2-mill, three-year replacement levy to fund the Copley Police Department won overwhelming voter approval on Tuesday.
Summit County Board of Elections results show the levy passed with 69 percent of the vote.
Township Fiscal Officer Janice L. Marshall said the replacement levy will generate an estimated $954,935 a year, down from the expiring thee-year levy.
"I'm so thrilled," Board of Trustees President Helen Humphrys said of learning of the vote margin after working at the polls since 6 a.m. "The police department is in my opinion one of the best in state.”
The levy will cost a homeowner with a $100,000 home about $61.25 a year, the same as the previous three-year levy.
"It is absolutely needed for the police department," Marshall said. The 2009 levy, which 3,025 people, 72 percent, voted for and 1,084 people, 34 percent, voted against, generated an estimated $1,073.24 a year.
The department's current roster includes 23 full-time patrol officers, six part-time patrol officers and an administrative assistant and a juvenile youth officer shared with Bath Township. The police budget also is funded by a 4.5 mill continuous levy, which, Marshall said, this year is projected to generate $2,148,604.
"Both of those levies are vital for the police department," she said.
