Levy for South Central Fire District on November ballot

CELINA- South Central Mercer Fire District officials are asking voters to approve a five-year, 2.5-mills replacement levy to continue funding fire protection operations.

If approved, the levy would collect $501,000 annually and cost the owner of a $100,000 home about $87.50 a year, according to the Mercer County Auditor' Office.

The fire district covers all of Granville Township, including the villages of St. Henry and Burkettsville.

In 2007, Burkettsville residents living north of Main Street - the dividing point between Darke and Mercer counties - began seeing two fire levies on their real estate tax bills, one from Granville Township and one from the village, resulting from an apparent misunderstanding by the Ohio Department of Taxation.

The fire district was formed in 2010 as a solution to the unequal taxation quagmire.

St. Henry Fire Department merged into the district in 2015 to improve their chances of getting federal and state grants.