FREDERICKTOWN — The Fredericktown Recreation District in Knox County plans to collect $414,000 annually from a new 1.5-mill levy, if passed, aiming to address rising maintenance costs and overdue infrastructure upgrades at local parks and sports fields.
If approved, the three-year levy, starting in 2025, would cost property owners $53 per $100,000 of property value.
According to the Knox County Board of Elections, the Fredericktown Recreation District for parks and recreation will collect $414,000 annually, at 1.5 mills.
The recreational district encompasses Wayne, Middlebury, Berlin and approximately half of Pike (Fredericktown) and Morris townships.
Two thousand and nine was the last year since there’s been a replacement levy for the recreational district, Fredericktown Recreation District’s Jim Blanchard said. The tax will be spent on infrastructural upkeep needs such as district parks and fields.
Properties include Community Park (Sockman Lake) and ball fields, Whaley Park (Mill Street property), Warner Park and field, Merrin Park and field, Levering Park and youth fields, Ackerman Park, and Dana Park.
Some of the older parks in the district are starting to show their age, and the infrastructures are needing repairs and updates, Fredericktown Recreation District’s Facebook post states.
“Our costs continue to rise,” Blanchard said. “Like everybody else, our electrical costs have gone up, vehicle costs have gone up.”
“I think most of our taxpayer dollars are utilized to keep up the facilities and do things that are in the best interest of the people.”