MOUNT VERNON — Lori Totman said she hopes taxpayers can see the good the park district has done with its tax dollars.
The 0.35-mill levy will replace a previous levy of the same mileage that was originally passed in 2008, renewed in 2012 and replaced in 2017. When the park district was formed in 1995 there wasn’t a source of funding before the levies, Totman said, it was funded by donations.
The park district’s board of commissioners, appointed by the county probate judge, wrote grants and raised money through donations with match money, said Totman, director of the Knox County Parks District.
The replacement will readjust house values to current markets. The increase would boost the park district’s budget by nearly $83,000 annually, Totman said. more per year for each of those five years.
This would equate to roughly an additional $12 a year for those living in a home valued at $100,000, Totman said.
With the number of parks and acreage in Knox County trails, Totman sees the levy as a catalyst to continue improving outdoor activities countywide.
The park district has 35 miles of trails, including the Kokosing Gap Trail and the Ohio Heart Trail. The district also has nine parks and over 1,000 acres to care for.
The brutal summer storm that rolled through central Ohio caused the park district to go into overdrive, cleaning pathways and seeking outside help with damages reaching toward $15,000, with hourly employees and volunteers assisting. The cleanup was funded by property taxes, Totman said
“We spent three weeks along the Wolf Run Trail. It (the storm) hit everywhere,” Totman said. “On the Ohio to Erie trail, we had trees down and major devastation on the Mohican Trail in eastern Knox.”
By Friday of that week, the entirety of 35 miles of trail were open in Knox County, thanks to volunteers and board members, Totman added.
People come from out of county and use our trails, Totman said.
The levy would fund maintaining, operating and managing more than 35 miles of trails and help maintain the parks.
If the levy passes, the park district would receive the money in 2024.
One of the district’s biggest events is “Fire and Ice,” where several technicolor trails lead to the Honey-run Highlands Waterfall in December. The elemental event coincides Millwood Church of Christ food run.
“We hope people believe in what we’re doing, they can see the parks, they can see the trails,” Totman said. “Believe in what we’re doing and we’re doing a great job with the resources we have.”
