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VIENNA -- The Vienna Township Police and EMS additional 3.5-mill levy failed during Tuesday's general election.
In July, township trustees approved placing the five-year levy on Tuesday's ballot.
The measure failed 51% to 49%, according to unofficial results from the Trumbull County Board of Elections. The no votes were separated from the yes votes by 40.
Vienna Fiscal Officer Linda McCullough said the levy would have helped police by paying for equipment. "Some of our vehicles are getting up there with mileage," she said.
Trustee Chairman Richard Dascenzo said previously the levy also would have helped pay police salaries.
"We've come into a problem, just like everywhere else, with a shortage of workers," he said. "These guys are coming on and we hire them and then McDonald or Girard says 'we'll give you $2 an hour more' then we're without police officers. We're trying to look into the future and see what we have to do to keep the guys (officers) we have now."
He also said they've lost officers in the past year.
If the levy had passed Tuesday, owners of a $100,000 home would have paid $123 per year, and the levy would have raised $327,000 annually.
If the levy had passed, two other 1-mill police levies would have expired at the end of this year.