Voters throughout Mahoning County will be asked to consider 19 tax issues, including 12 requesting new money, on the Nov. 7 ballot.

Among the largest requests are bond issues exceeding $100 million each in the Canfield and Poland school districts. Canfield put a 37-year, $104,955,000 bond issue for school buildings on the ballot while Poland is seeking approval for a 36-year, $105,440,000 bond issue for school buildings.

In addition to the tax issues, there’s a Campbell charter amendment to not require the law director to be a city resident and a retail electricity aggregation issue in Lowellville, 10 liquor options along with nonpartisan candidates for township trustee, township fiscal officer, boards of education and mayor and village council seats in Beloit, Craig Beach, Lowellville and New Middletown.

People running for those elected positions as well as those seeking tax issues and liquor options had to file petitions by Wednesday’s deadline with the Mahoning County Board of Elections. The board needs to certify the candidates and issues for the Nov. 7 ballot.

Wednesday’s deadline did not apply to candidates who previously filed for municipal elections in Youngstown, Struthers, Poland village, Campbell and Sebring.

Among the 19 tax issues are two for the entire county.

One is a 1.85-mill, 5-year replacement levy for county children services and the other is a 1.35-mill, 5-year renewal levy for the county mental health and recovery board.

The village of Sebring has four levies, the most of any community in the county, on the Nov. 7 ballot, including three additional ones for police, fire, and parks and recreation. The renewal is for recreational purposes.

Others seeking new taxes are the communities of Campbell, Austintown, Poland Township, Smith, Beloit, New Middletown and Poland village.

The 19 issues are the fewest for a general election ballot in Mahoning County since 2019, which had 14.

RACES

Austintown Township Trustee Steve Kent, who is on trial for three counts of sexual battery, didn’t file for re-election.

Kent is accused by authorities of having an inappropriate relationship with a 16-year-old student from 2020 to 2021 when he was a Poland Township police resource officer at Poland Seminary High School. He also is charged with attempting to destroy evidence. Kent has pleaded not guilty and has rejected calls to resign as trustee.

Six people are seeking to succeed Kent. They are: Brenda M. Rider of Barrington Drive, one of the founders of a group that sought to remove him from office; Warren Bo Pritchard of South Meridian Road, a former trustee; Bruce Shepas of Victory Hill Lane, who has run unsuccessfullyfor trustee in the past; Andrea Paventi of Westchester Drive, who’s also failed to get elected trustee before; Eric J. Vereb of Spring Meadow Circle; and Michael P. Cefalde of Kirk Road.

There are uncontested trustee races in eight other townships in the county with the incumbent being the lone candidate.

There are contested races for trustee in Canfield, Coitsville, Green, Milton and Springfield townships.

There are three candidates running for an open seat in Springfield and two for an open seat in Green.

In each of the three other contested races, the incumbent faces a single challenger.

Among the 14 townships in the county, the contested fiscal officer races are limited to Canfield, Goshen and Springfield.

Among the county’s 15 school districts, there are contested boards of education races in only five.

In Canfield, five candidates are running for two seats with no incumbents seeking re-election.

In Youngstown, there are six candidates, including three incumbents, running for four full-term seats. Joseph S. Meranto of Tod Lane, who was appointed to an unexpired term, has no opponent for the remainder of the term on the Youngstown school board.

The other contested school board races are: four candidates for two seats in Campbell, four candidates for three seats in Poland and three candidates for two seats in Springfield.

The school boards in Boardman, Sebring and West Branch districts had two seats on the Nov. 7 ballot, but only one incumbent each filed.

There are two open seats on the village councils in New Middletown and Beloit. No one filed in New Middletown and one person filed in Beloit.

Aug. 28 is the deadline for people to file as write-in candidates.