2.5 mills police levy to appear on Cortland ballots in November

CORTLAND, Ohio (WKBN) — In Trumbull County, voters in Cortland will see an additional levy benefiting the police department on their ballots this November.

Voters in Cortland will be deciding on an additional 2.5 mills levy for the city’s police department.

“It’s really of critical importance to us,” said Cortland Chief of police David Morris. “We’re simply asking them to help us continue to provide them with a great service.”

The levy would generate $524,000 a year for the department — money that would help offset the department’s rising operational costs plus hire two more full-time officers.

The budget currently supports nine full-time officers with eight part time officers filling in open shifts.

“After COVID, and, you know, the law enforcement recruitment crisis, it’s just, part-time is not available to us,” Morris said.

Right now, Cortland only has one-part time officer on its roster, meaning full-time officers are filling the gaps on overtime.

“With the overtime, it’s not even just about the money, it’s our current officers are worn out they’re tired. They’ve been working a lot of overtime,” Morris said.

Should the levy pass, it would cost the owner of a home appraised at $100,000 an extra $88 a year.

“We did not take it lightly going to the voters asking for this levy we know that everybody’s struggling,” Morris said.

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