(Posted April 16, 2018)
By Kristy Zurbrick, Madison Editor
The Stokes Township trustees are asking voters to support a tax levy for maintenance of the township’s four cemeteries.
The township is on the May 8 special election ballot with a request for a 0.3-mill, five-year property tax. If passed, the levy would generate an estimated $10,200 per year. The annual cost to the owner of a $100,000 home would be $10.50. Collection would start in 2019.
This marks the first time the trustees are seeking a levy for cemetery upkeep. Currently, the trustees rely on money from the general fund and revenue from funerals to offset costs, but they need new equipment.
“We need a new mower. The levy would help generate funds for that. We can’t afford it without the levy,” said Trustee Linton Kelley. “The mower gets run hard during the summers. The one we have now is at the point now where it has a lot of hours on it, and we are putting a lot of repair into it.”
Levy funds also would be used to repair broken headstones, some for military veterans and some that date back to the 1800s.
The township maintains two active cemeteries, the main one in South Solon and a smaller one, Whiteman Cemetery, on Route 729. They also care for two inactive cemeteries, one on Route 323 and the other on Selsor Moon Road.
“I think we’ve done an excellent job of keeping the cemeteries up, and we’ve always had a lot of compliments on that,” Kelley said. “In order to maintain that, we need extra money for equipment.”
