News
Wellston And Coalton Levies Pass
By: Jennifer Hughes | Jackson County Times-Tribune
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Wellston's Ridgewood Cemetery, as well as Coalton's Street Light and Current Expense levies all passed in Tuesday's Primary Election.
“I love this Village and would like to see it the way it could be,” Coalton Mayor Kim Milliken stated before the election. “But it is up to the residents. They need to help us maintain the Village because if the levies go down, things will change drastically.”
When Coalton's voters casted their ballots, 63 percent of the votes were in support of the levies. A five year additional 2 mill levy to provide and maintain the street lighting and a five year replacement five mill levy for current expenses will now be collected.
If the Coalton levies had failed, Mayor Milliken said that the Village would have had to start cutting the services the community has grown accustomed to.
Wellston’s five-year additional one mil levy for the operation and maintenance of Ridgewood Cemetery, was one that took a couple of elections to get approved. The levy measure passed with 66 percent of the vote.
Currently, volunteers are trying to maintain the 48 acre Ridgewood Cemetery, but Wellston Mayor Connie Pelletier stated it really isn’t fair to depend on them to do all that work for no pay. Now, the City will allow for the hire of two part-time people to help maintain the cemetery. Pelletier also said that
Community Service workers can assist with weed-eating and picking-up trash at the cemetery.
Pelletier said the passage of the levy amounts to about $52,000 per year. That is enough for two part-time employees and gas for the mowers, and pay for any equipment failures they may incur. When that amount is broken down, a person with a $50,000 home will pay an additional $15.46 per year.
The only contested race was in the City of Jackson. The City of Jackson Treasurer's race for the Republican nomination was between incumbent Tom Perry and John T. "Tom" Evans. Evans took the majority of the votes with 53 percent of the votes. Evans will face Carl Barnett Jr. in the General Election in November.
The official count, which will include any late arriving absentee ballots, with the approved postmark, and any provisional ballots will take place after May 18 by the Jackson County Board of Elections.
Note: Multimedia Reporters Jeremiah Shaver and Felicia Tackett contributed to this report.