Ross Twp. will hold off asking voters for police levy

Ross is considering asking taxpayers to approve a new police levy. They are trying to decide if they want to ask for a renewal or more money. NICK GRAHAM/STAFF

Ross is considering asking taxpayers to approve a new police levy. They are trying to decide if they want to ask for a renewal or more money. NICK GRAHAM/STAFF

Ross Twp. trustees have decided to hold off asking voters to approve a police levy in November so they can address staffing issues.

The township passed its first police levy by a vote of 1,470 to 648 in 2013 — after several failed attempts — and the trustees have been considering whether to ask taxpayers in November for more money for police services or simply to renew the 2.5-mill levy that brings in about $500,000 annually through 2018.

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Trustee Tom Willsey said the levy should cover things for next year, but staffing will impact the amount they need to ask for. They have applied for a federal COPS grant to get some more full-time officers, but those grants don’t last forever.

“If we get the COPS grant, then we’re going to have to look at a way to fund that in the future,” he said. “We’re going to have to start staffing up. There just aren’t any people left that are willing to put part-time service in.”

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The levy supports a department that has 10 part-time people and one full-time employee, Capt. Jack Tremain — who is acting chief while Chief of Police Darryl Haussler battles a rare and painful disease.

Township Administrator Bob Bass said they have applied for funding for one additional officer — the maximum allowed based on the current staffing — and the grant would run for three years. The federal funds pay for 75 percent of an officer’s salary and benefits, and the township must retain the person for at least one year after the grant ends.

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Trustee Raymond Wurzelbacher said while they are experiencing a shortage of police officers — because so many come for a short time and then move on to full-time positions elsewhere — they haven’t reached a “dangerous” staffing level yet. He said Tremain will fill in if there is a void on a shift.

“There were a couple times we get a little worried, but our captain steps in and pulls a missing shift if we have a missing shift,” Wurzelbacher said.

The heroin epidemic is also taxing the department, making funding for staff critical.

“We, like everyone else, are subject to the heroin and the drug addictions and the break-ins,” he said. “We don’t have as many obviously, but we also have a growing population who are more and more aware of what our needs are and are more and more demanding that we provide more service. To do that we have to have funding.”

Bass said they have discussed adding more full-time people, but that will take more money than the existing levy provides. He said they have not made any decisions yet as they continue to study their options.

Willsey said if he had his way, the township would place a ballot question on the November 2018 ballot, rather than the spring primary.

“I don’t think we’ll do a spring one. I don’t think people like those,” he said. “I think people tend to think you’re trying to pull a fast one on them when you do that.”

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