Serving Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky and Wood Counties
In Clay Township, voters will get to decide on a 4.3 mill levy that police chief Jesse Martin said would go a long way toward helping the department’s sustainability.
It's will cost taxpayers $96 annually per $100,000 home valuation, and it will fund insurance, equipment, cruisers, training for police officers, salaries, and daily operational, day-to-day stuff.
Martin said the department last had levies in 1986 and 1998, and this ballot request will help reflect rising inflation.
“We've been working on those millages until recently,” he said. “We're trying to move this levy into place. What it's going to do is update the millage to something more modern. We're still working on what your house was worth back then.”
And with that comes sustainability.
“It’s so we can continue to provide 24 hours a day, seven days a week service for years and years to come,” Martin said. “Sustainability is really the big one. With the rising cost of vehicles and equipment, we're basically running pretty tight on trying to do that, plus pay salaries.
“Everyone around us is paying significantly more money, so we're trying to make sure that we can keep good people and attract people to come work for us, but without having the extra money in the budget to put towards salaries and good cars and good equipment and all that extra stuff that we need, we're not really able to attract a lot of people.
“Sustainability is really the big one, and also to adjust to everything changing around us. We've done really well since late '86 and 1998. It's 2025, and it's about time that we brought things up (to standard). I'm proud to say that we've worked almost 40 years on that stuff, but unfortunately, times have been changing so rapidly that we really need to be able to adapt.”
Martin said that former police chief Terry Mitchell retired in 2024, and that he is part of a staff with a lot of new guys.
“We’re looking to ultimately change the outlook that everyone has for the department,” he said. “We're looking to be part of our community and build a good, strong relationship while providing a safe community for our people.”
