In most cases, the lighting district is requested by a developer who pays for the infrastructure cost. In these cases, only the cost of energy is assessed and billed to property owners in the district.

It is possible for a neighborhood to request lighting after the initial development. In these cases, the infrastructure cost would also be assessed in a manner agreed upon with Duke Energy, typically financed over a 10- to 20-year period.

Also, there could be an upgrade or retrofit to modernize existing infrastructure.  A payback period would be determined based on project details and negotiated with Duke Energy.

There are many types pf Special Assessments.  The Butler County Auditor has a thorough list of the various assessments.

SPECIAL ASSESSMENTS

How is the annual assessment determined?

West Chester is billed monthly for the energy.  West Chester pays the energy bills from July to June, aggregates the totals and then adds a 10% admin fee per district.  For residential districts, all property owners in a district are assessed equal amounts.

A 3-percent bed tax is charged to visitors staying in our local hotels. West Chester collects approximately $1 million each year from local hotels.

Hotels self report and send payment directly to West Chester Township. FORM FOR SELF-REPORTING

An encumbrance is the actual assignment of a dollar amount to a very specific purchase. There are very strict controls on the expenditure of funds ensuring expenditures remain within budget. Pursuant to House Bill 500 revised ORC 507.11, the Board of Trustees has established a hierarchy for approval of any expenditure made using Township funds.

• Department directors are given authority to approve purchase orders for purchases of $5,000 or less.
• The Township Administrator can authorize purchase orders for purchases of $7,500 or less.
• The Board of Trustees must consider the merits of expenditures/encumbrances greater than $7,500 in a public forum.

Permanent Appropriations are presented to the Board of Trustees in the first quarter of the year for formal action. Permanent Appropriations are a function of the Township's capacity to incur expenses. Appropriations is a combination of the Township's carryover as determined at year-end, plus the estimated resources as certified by the Butler County Budget Commission and submitted in July of the previous year.

Permanent Appropriations will be amended periodically throughout the year by Resolution (requiring Board of Trustees action)

The Township Administration presents a proposed annual operational budget to the Board of Trustees each January for consideration. This operational budget proposal is based upon input from all Township departments and includes revenue predictions based upon multiple variables, including the market and industry standards. The operational budget represents activities from 10 funds - General Fund, four separate Roads Funds, Cemetery Fund, West Chester Community Television Fund, Police Fund, Fire and EMS Funds.

The operational budget does not include previous year carryover as part of revenue, nor does it include Tax Increment Financing Funds, Project Funds, Debt Service Funds, State Grant Funds and Federal Grant Funds. 

The operational budget is a demonstration of budget priorities and requires no formal action by the Board of Trustees. The operational budget does not represent individual expenditures or encumbrances, but rather is a detailed illustration of expected expenditures by account code assigned to specific budget priorities which are set by the Board of Trustees.

The operational budget is limited by the Permanent Appropriations which is a function of the previous year's tax budget.

Ohio Checkbook allows public entities to display its expenditures through the State Treasurer's website. West Chester Township partnered with OpenGov to create the Township’s more comprehensive DIG (Data Informed Government) portal. DIG provides users the opportunity to view Township expenditures and revenues. West Chester's expenses, however, are also available through the State Treasurer's Ohio Checkbook.

A percentage breakdown of one West Chester tax dollar illustrates where taxpayer money goes.

Lakota Local School District - 56.99%

Lakota Schools receives about 50% of your tax dollar for general operations of the school district. There is also a Lakota Bond issue (4%) and Capital Improvement levy (3%) collected by Lakota.

*There is a small number of West Chester Township residents who live in the Princeton City School District or the Mason City School District. The amount will vary for them.

West Chester Township - 25.66%

West Chester Township receives about 26% of your tax dollar with 1% going to general Township services (parks, community development, planning & zoning, administration) and 1% going to Township roads. Twelve percent goes to fund the Police Department and 11% goes to the Fire Department. The Police and Fire levies were approved by voters. 

Butler County - 12.25%

Butler County receives about 13% of your tax dollar. Three percent of this amount is for general County government services. The remainder was approved by voters through county-wide elections – The Board of Developmental Disabilities (3%), Mental Health and Addiction Recovery Services (2%), and Children's Services (3%). The Butler County Commissioners set the budget for these services. 

Senior Services levy funds (2%) are also approved by voters and are receipted by the County. The Council on Aging bills Butler County for services and ultimately administers the budget for this service. 

Butler Tech Joint Vocational School - 3.2%

Butler Tech receives about 3% of your tax dollar. 

MetroParks of Butler County - 0.93%

MetroParks of Butler County collects about 1% of your tax dollar through a county-wide levy approved by voters. 

MidPointe Library System - 0.98%

The MidPointe Library System collects about 1% of your tax dollar through a library system-wide levy approved by voters.