Sun staff
Representatives from the Clermont County Park District presented to the Clermont County Commissioners on Oct .5 about the .5 mill, 10-year property tax levy that will go before voters Nov. 8.
The item will be listed as Issue 15 on the ballot.
“We all encourage everyone to vote for it,” said Commissioner Bob Proud.
The levy, which will cost the owner of a $100,000 home $17.50 a year, will be used to support the operations, redevelopment, improvement and repairs of the county parks, said Chris Clingman, director of the park district.
“We have several opportunities for some new parks and new facilities within our existing parks, and this will help fund all those things,” Clingman said. “But, we’re really looking at the levy as being able to increase the quality of life in Clermont County.”
The park district currently operates five parks, three nature preserves, the Williamsburg to Batavia hike bike trail and six green spaces, totaling more than 600 acres, according to a press release.
County parks receive about 200,000 visits per year and the park district hosts approximately 500 events annually for 35,000 to 40,000 people, including family reunions, weddings, birthday parties, baby showers, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts campouts and naturalist programs.
“Whether I’m in the Swiss Alps or I’m just taking a hike over in Sycamore Park, they all get you to that situation where you’re just enjoying what’s out there,” said Jim Meyer, owner of Trail Management Services and a volunteer with the levy committee.
The park district’s budget of approximately $587,000 a year is funded primarily through a tenth of a mill property tax, which generates about $400,000. The rest of the budget is composed of rental fees and donations.
The budget is the same as it has been since 2005; through changes in state law and a decline in property tax revenues due to the recession, the park district lost more than $100,000 in revenue.
Staffing levels have gone from seven full-time employees in 2010 to five today, along with four part-time and three seasonal employees, according to Clingman.
“Chris and his staff have just done a remarkable job of setting up the park systems and maintaining them on a shoestring budget, but unfortunately that shoestring is starting to get shorter, and it’s starting to fray, so we need to give him more support,” Meyer said.
He went on to recount two notable times when he saw young people enjoying the county parks. Once was a father teaching his son how to skip stones on a local creek, and the other was when a troupe of students led by a naturalist stopped to overturn a rock.
“The students were so excited to see all those creepy-crawlies,” he said. “It’s experiences like that that we need to preserve for our kids.”
Commissioner David Uible, who serves as chairman of the Clermont County Republican Party, said the levy is one issue both political parties have agreed to support.
“With all the differences today, we’re in agreement on that,” he said.
For more information about Issue 15 and ways to support the Clermont County Parks levy campaign, visit www.peopleforclermontparks.org.