MARY ANN TOWNSHIP MEETING TONIGHT March 12, 2012 7:00PM

At the Community Center 7:00pm

Don't Forget to VOTE! Tuesday, March 6, 2011 at the Mary Ann Twp Community Center

Written by

Advocate staff report

NEWARK -- On a national level, this Tuesday is known as Super Tuesday. Ohio will play a vital role in determining the Republican nominee for president.
Locally, Licking County voters will decide a few key countywide races and issues:

Licking County commissioners

Licking County Republicans could decide the fate of one county commissioner seat Tuesday when incumbent Brad Feightner faces off with Seth Ellington and Duane Flowers. No Democrat candidates have filed for the race, but independent candidates have until 4 p.m. today to file for the November election.
Feightner leans on his previous experience in city and county government, including the past four years as commissioner. He said his top priorities are to manage county growth and continue providing county services.
Flowers, president of a construction company, is the longtime mayor of Hanover. His top priority is to reduce government while balancing the budget and not increasing taxes.
Ellington, a general manager at Big "O" Refuse, is running for his first public office. His top priority is job growth and increasing revenue, and he cites his private-sector experience as giving him a unique perspective among the commissioners.

Licking Park District

A quarter of a mill would give the Licking Park District fiscal stability for the next five years.
The district is asking county voters to approve the new five-year levy. It would raise $900,000 per year and cost the owner of a $100,000 home $7.65 per year.
Budget cuts in recent years have whittled the parks to one full-time employee, one part-time employee and a lot of volunteers. There is no money for repairs or programming.
If the levy is approved, the park district would start a maintenance reserve fund for emergencies and large projects; take over maintenance responsibilities for all county bike paths by 2017; repave several miles of path each year; and help repave the path at Blackhand Gorge State Nature Preserve.
The district's five-year plan is available at its website, lickingparkdistrict.com.

Board of Developmental Disabilities

The Licking County Board of Developmental Disabilities depends on its 1-mill levy for nearly 40 percent of its budget.
The levy, first passed in 1987, raises about $3.7 million for the organization. It costs the owner of a $100,000 home about $30.63 per year.
Since 2002, the board has seen state revenue decrease by $2.3 million per year, and has been forced to rely more on local revenue. In the same time frame, the board has cut 100 positions, downsized from five to three buildings and combined transportation services with the Licking County Transit Board.

Open-space levy

Granville Township is asking voters to renew a 1-mill, five-year open-space levy to control residential growth, thereby preserving the character of the rural areas that surround the village of Granville.
The levy would generate $308,500 annually for the purchase of land outright or development rights from the owners of properties in instances when that land is thought to be susceptible to development. Buying development rights, which normally applies to agricultural parcels, ensures the land will remain undeveloped in perpetuity.
Since it began in the late 1990s, the program has protected about 1,000 acres of land thought to have a high potential for dense development, farm or agricultural land, and parkland -- scenic or environmentally sensitive property with some recreational value.
The bulk of the $1 million raised annually for the program comes from a 2.5-mill levy, which was renewed in 2010. The cost of the 1-mill levy would remain at $30.32 annually per $100,000 of property valuation.