AUSTINTOWN — Last week, Austintown voters reversed their opposition to last year’s police levy.

On Monday, Police Chief Valorie Delmont issued a news release thanking the community and outlining the department’s immediate priorities for using the funds. On Wednesday, trustee Bruce Shepas elaborated on those points.

The levy is a five-year renewable 2.22-mill measure that will generate about $2 million annually for police operations. Voters supported it by a 52% to 48% margin — the same margin that defeated last year’s 2.4-mill continuous levy.

Despite some outcry about the 2024 effort, residents also overwhelmingly supported incumbent trustees Monica Deavers and Rob Santos in the election. Monday’s release from Delmont promised to be responsible with taxpayer dollars.

“We recognize the responsibility that comes with your support. I want to assure you that we are committed to using these funds with the utmost transparency, accountability and fiscal responsibility,” she wrote. “Every dollar will be spent with care and purpose, focused on initiatives that directly benefit the safety and well-being of our residents.”

Delmont outlined three priorities:

• Filling vacant positions in patrol, dispatch and supervision to eliminate overtime and ensure appropriate emergency responses.

• Increased training for officers and dispatchers to improve efficiency and decrease liability.

• Investment in critical software services and equipment that will enhance the department’s ability to detect, deter, investigate and prosecute criminal activity.

On Wednesday, Shepas said the township would like to fill three to four police officer vacancies immediately. The department’s staffing is down to 31 officers as of the end of October, having lost about 12 to retirements and departures for other departments over the past several years. As the budget constraints have placed a greater burden on the department and trustees, they have not replaced those officers.

Cuts to the department budget have meant pulling officers back from the Mahoning County Drug Task Force and Mahoning County Human Trafficking Task Force to maintain adequate patrol staffing. They have done the same with many detectives, which Delmont and the police union say inhibits the department’s ability to investigate more serious crimes.

Shepas said the dispatch center, which handles calls for 24 communities in addition to Austintown, is also down three dispatchers and they intend to hire a new one immediately, with a second to follow soon, he hopes.

As part of the township’s effort to save money, they re-negotiated dispatch contracts with most of the outside communities the center serves to bring those communities’ costs more in line with the annual average per-call cost and to remove what they said was a disproportionate financial burden on Austintown’s police and fire departments for dispatching.

“And as you know, myself, (Dispatch Supervisor) Steve Sinn, and the chief went around to renegotiate those contracts, and those new contracts were signed by trustees the other night and that will help immensely,” Shepas said.

He said other priorities include getting new police cruisers, which the township has not replaced in three years, and getting the department’s fleet on a working capital budget.

He said they also will bring much of the department’s software up to modern standards as quickly as they can.

Earlier this year, in an effort to save money, the board — at Delmont’s urging — voted to discontinue Austintown’s police dog program, saving $10,000 this year and $20,000 in 2026. Donations will keep the program running through the end of this year. Shepas said restoring the program is on the list of what they would like to achieve, but it is not an immediate priority like staffing, training, software and vehicles.

Shepas reiterated his position that the levy was designed to ensure transparency and responsibility.

“We made this a five-year renewable levy for a reason. I want the taxpayers to hold us accountable,” he said.