Strasburg police levy struck down for second time
STRASBURG (WJER) (May 2, 2023) – Two of the local communities with tax issues on the ballot didn’t have much success Tuesday.
A proposed half-mill income tax increase in Port Washington is failing by a more than 4 to 1 margin after the unofficial election night tallies, and the cemetery levy that was up for renewal there is tied 27 to 27.
In Strasburg, officials will have to decide if it’s worth risking the village’s current police levy to go all in on the 3.7-mill one voters rejected for the second time. Mayor Steve Smith isn’t ruling out the possibility of another attempt in November.
“Well, it’s certainly a defeat. I think the police were deserving of having the funds passed on to them but we will continue. We will provide the same services to the community. We will move on. We will probably try putting the levy on again in the fall.”
He says they could also ask voters to renew or replace the existing 1.5-mill tax that collects around 50-thousand dollars annually or try for a more modest increase.
“That’s up for discussion at this point to see where we go, but we know we have to do something between now and election day because the current levy expires at the end of the year.”
The only other tax issues in this election were fire protection levies in Bucks and Warwick. Both were passing by decent margins in the unofficial totals.