BEAVERCREEK — The Beavercreek City Council passed a resolution that would place a park levy onto the November ballot for residents to vote on.
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The city’s council passed Resolution 23-41 during a meeting Monday night that would allow for a park levy to be placed on the November 7, 2023 ballot. Residents would then have a chance to vote on the 1.93 mills levy that would increase taxes based on the resident’s property value to help develop Spring House Park as well as maintain the 23 existing parks.
Spring House Park’s master plan, adopted by city council in May 2023, had an estimated cost of $36 million to build out.
The 1.93 mills park levy would provide approximately $29 million of the needed funding with $17 million of it going towards infrastructure projects, such as land preparation, water and electric system establishment, road and parking area construction, and other necessary utilities, a spokesperson for the city wrote on their website.
The city intended to apply for grant funding for the remaining costs.
“Based on current cost estimates, the funds will be utilized to build and maintain natural areas, hiking trails (both unpaved and paved), three playgrounds, eight shelters, a splash pad, dog park, disc golf course, twelve pickleball courts, multipurpose fields, basketball courts, outdoor fitness area, event space, great lawn, fishing dock, archery range, four restrooms, and seven parking lots,” the spokesperson said.
The creation of Spring House Park stemmed from a community-wide survey conducted in 2019, which revealed that 60 percent of respondents expressed a desire for larger community parks, the spokesperson continued.
In addition to the development of Spring House Park, the proposed park levy would support Beavercreek’s existing parks. The city intended to utilize funds from the levy to hire 10 additional full-time employees, including five maintenance workers and two recreation programmers, as well as a building attendant, mechanic, and Beavercreek Senior Center coordinator.
If approved, the levy would raise property taxes beginning in 2024 by $68 for each $100,000 of the county auditor’s appraised value.