Support road levy replacement in Grafton Township

Grafton Township officials made a strong case in November for replacing and increasing a small levy that helps pay for upkeep on the township's roads. Nevertheless, it appeared to have been too much of a tax increase for the 55.6 percent of voters who cast their ballots against the measure. Township officials were paying attention and are asking voters to approve a more modest bump in funding for the Road Department in the primary election scheduled for March 19. Rather than replacing and increasing the 1-mill levy, which generates around $76,000 per year, the township wants voters to replace the existing levy that was first approved by voters in 1989. Doing so would allow the township to bring in a little more money by using current property tax valuations, Fiscal Officer Amy Richards told us. "This is not such a big leap," she said. Were Issue 20, as the replacement levy is identified on the ballot, to pass, it would generate about $134,000 per year over the five years it would be in effect. The township needs the extra funding to keep up with rising costs, Richards said. "It's basically to keep the roads in drivable condition," she said. Th levy doesn't pay for salaries, but it does help cover the cost of equipment and materials used by the two-person Road Department to fix and plow the roughly 19 miles of roads the township is responsible for maintaining. The township also is responsible for upkeep on roadside ditches. All of that work requires a lot of equipment, including a dump truck, a backhoe, a salt loader, a wood chipper and lawn mowers. The township also has two plow trucks, one of which is roughly 20 years old and needs to be replaced. The cost of a new plow truck runs around $150,000, Richards estimated. The township also gets some money to pay for road repairs from motor vehicle registration fees and gas taxes, but would struggle to do all of the necessary work with that money alone. Under the current levy, the owner of a home valued at $100,000 pays around $26 per year, according to Lorain County Auditor Craig Snodgrass' office. That would increase by about $9 were Issue 20 to pass, bringing the total cost to approximately $35 per year. That's less than the nearly $30 annual increase the owner of that same home would have paid had voters approved the replacement and increase in November. We urge voters to support a reasonable request that would help the township keep its road safe and in good repair.