Replacing Levy Could Mean More Sidewalks in Strongsville

Strongsville voters will be asked in November to re-approve a levy for general operating expenses, and this time, some of the money will be set aside for sidewalks, officials said.

The city is planning to put the 1.5-mill issue, first approved in 1976, on the ballot as a replacement tax at 1.4-mills, meaning it would be collected at the most recent property valuation rates.

Finance Director Joe Dubovec said the issue currently generates about $500,000 a year. If approved as a replacement, it would collect around $2 million a year.

"We need money for roads. Some of our buildings need new roofs. We've got salt trucks that are 25 years old," Dubovec said.

But Ward 4 Councilman Scott Maloney said council wants to carve out some of the new money -- probably about $100,000 a year -- to start building sidewalks where they don't exist.

Maloney said the program would likely add sidewalks to main roads first, then eventually on smaller streets.

Dubovec estimates the levy, which now costs the owner of a $100,000 house about $8.90 a year, would cost that same resident $43 a year. 

It is the only general operating levy Strongsville collects. In Westlake -- a city often used as a comparison to Strongsville because it, too, has a rare AAA bond rating -- voters pay 6.6 mills for general city operations.

The sidewalk issue was raised last year by Ward 2 Councilman Matt Schonhut, who said he wanted Strongsville to look into a program to build sidewalks on all the city's streets.