A 1.75 mill police levy in Hubbard Township currently costs a taxpayer owning a $100,000 home about $50 per year.

Trustees William Coletta and Monica Baker decided not to put the renewal on the ballot believing they have more than enough money to sustain the police department and giving taxpayers a little break, allowing them to have that $50 back.

However, Trustee Jason Tedrow is looking ahead, saying it's a Big mistake.

"In the future, because of this decision, it's probably going to make it more critical that we pass that next levy that's put up on the ballot," Tedrow said. "It's $50 today but when I have to come back, it's going to be $150 to $200 that we're going to be prosposing to the public in three years, potentially," he said.

So the township would be going from keeping a renewal levy, to asking for a brand new one that costs the tax payers four times more and might be difficult to pass.

"I think it's a missed opportunity to let our residents make a decision on how their local government runs," Tedrow said. "We're going into an election season, sometimes decisions like this are made because somebody wants to run for reelection," he said.

As it stands, projected revenue for 2025 is $1,223,898. Projected expenditures for the year are $1,230,454.

This already places the township at a $6,556 deficit and when the police levy expires at the end of the year, they'll no longer be receiving those funds into the township.

If we look at the year 2028, based on projected revenues and expenditures, the township is looking at a $335,349 deficit and growing.

If the township adds a ninth officer to the ranks, the deficit would increase to about $405,000 by 2028.

"All that money, those deficits, come from our savings and like I said, we do need to burn some savings down but I don't know if it's the wisest thing to do it as fast as we are because pretty quickly we're going to have to go to the voters and ask for an increase," Tedrow said.

If the levy expires, Tedrow says the deficit would eat away at their savings in excess of hundreds of thousands.

As it stands, there are no plans for a special meeting to potentially put the levy on the ballot. The deadline to do that is August 6th.