AUSTINTOWN TWP., Ohio - Austintown voters won't be seeing a police levy on their ballot next November but the township will ask for help in a renewal to maintain the general fund.

However, trustees are looking to place a renewal of a five-year levy — that generates $400,000-$420,000 — on the ballot, which Austintown township trustees approved on Monday. This levy collects through 2025, so it will need to be renewed next year to begin in 2026.

"It's not new money, it's a renewal," said Austintown Township trustee Robert Santos.

A levy that would have produced $2.26 million for the Austintown Police Department (APD) was on November's ballot. However, voters in Austintown turned the levy down.

Santos says that the cost of policing has increased "exponentially," adding that "the cost of the items that police use in their work has gone up."

According to Santos, township trustees will not replace four retired officers and do not intend to replace the two other officers nearing retirement.

Township trustees also voted to remove a yearly vehicle replacement plan that cost $180,000 a year.