BOARDMAN — One of the township’s longest-serving leaders has died.

William D. Leicht, 80, died Saturday, less than a year after retiring as Boardman’s fiscal officer after 30 years in the position. Leicht served his last 16 years with Trustees Larry Moliterno, Tom Costello and Brad Calhoun, who replaced him as fiscal officer in February. Moliterno and Costello appointed Steve Yacovone to fill Calhoun’s seat.

“I don’t know if, in Mahoning County, four elected officials have ever been together for that length of time,” Calhoun said. “I go back a long way with Bill, because he was on the (Boardman Local School District) board of education when I got hired to teach and I had his son Matthew in class. He had so much institutional knowledge about financing and working with the banks. So many fiscal officers always called Bill over the years to ask how to do something, and I’m grateful I worked with him because I learned a lot about the position I now hold. He was a great mentor.”

Calhoun, Moliterno and Costello all remember the condition of the township when the quartet began its tenure in 2009.

Then-Vindicator reporter Denise Dick reported at the time that the state auditor’s office conducted a fiscal analysis of the township in late 2009 at the board of trustees’ request, and although Boardman did not meet the threshold for fiscal watch or emergency status for 2009, a deficit was expected in 2010.

Fiscal-watch status — when expenditures are outpacing revenues — usually precedes a declaration of fiscal emergency, when the state comes in to supervise the township’s spending.

In 2009, the township’s difference between projected revenue and projected expenses was between $200,000 and $300,000, Calhoun said at the time.

“He was warning the trustees before we (Calhoun and Costello) came in, and they weren’t listening,” he said. “We had a lot of great discussions with Bill for two months before we took office, and once January came, it was like lightning getting things done, because we’d already discussed it all.”

“Bill, really, during the most turbulent times at the township, he held everything together and exhibited a lot of leadership behind the scenes to get Boardman through that, and I think we flourished after that,” Moliterno said.

But Moliterno remembers Leicht for other reasons, as well.

“I don’t think people realize how much community service work he did. He spent all those years as fiscal officer, and spent a number of years on the school board, serving on different nonprofit boards, and I think people just take for granted that there are people like Bill who spent lifetimes being part of their community,” Moliterno said. “How many lives he impacted because of his work behind the scenes and a lot of people just don’t know about it.”

In addition to his roles in township government and on the school board, Leicht’s obituary states that he ran his own accounting practice, William D. Leicht & Associates, where he worked with his son Matthew, was president of the Easter Seals Society, and served on the Youngstown Country Club board.

Like Calhoun, he mentored countless other people throughout his life, “giving opportunities to those who needed them most. He always wanted people to see the best in themselves,” the obituary reads.

Leicht was also an animal lover who adopted many and was volunteering at Animal Charity of Ohio in his final days. His obituary asks for donations to be made to Animal Charity on Southern Boulevard in Boardman.

Like Calhoun and Moliterno, Costello also remembers Leicht as a colleague who was a dear friend. His experience with Leicht went back to at least 1995, when Costello worked on Leicht’s first campaign for fiscal officer. Costello joined him in township government four years later, serving from 1999 to 2005, then being re-elected in 2009.

“Bill was always a wonderful source of information for us,” he said. “As we would be working to solve an issue, it was often ‘that sounds great but can we afford it?’ and we’d ask Bill if we can find it in the budget,” Costello said. “He was always able to give us a direct answer. He knew our finances, and knew them off the top of his head, so he could help us proceed accordingly. Bill was always an integral part of our decision making process.”

Costello said he and Leicht would usually meet once a month for lunch at Cafe Capri, and discuss the township’s issues, listening to each other’s differing perspectives from the vantage point of their respective positions in government.

Perhaps the most valuable trait of his friend and colleague, Costello said, was his honesty and reliability.

“Bill was always good to his word, and forgive me but a lot of people nowadays aren’t,” he said. “If Bill Leicht told you something, you could take it to the bank and I appreciated that so much. I was fortunate in my time in office that most of the people I worked with at the township were that way.”

Calhoun remembers his sense of humor and his ability to keep an even head.

“He was very timely in trying to lighten the mood,” he said. “If we were in a discussion about something and maybe the conversation got a little heated, he’d be very timely in bringing some humor and bringing the temperature down in the room, which I believe ultimately helps get the decision made.”

With Leicht’s resignation and his death, and Costello’s defeat in November to Trustee Matt Gambrel, Calhoun and Moliterno face new challenges with new colleagues at their side.

The possibility looms of property taxes — Ohio townships’ primary source of revenue — being eliminated by a prospective ballot measure next year, as Columbus continues to claw back revenue streams long made available. Flooding issues require costly solutions, and heavy road construction will make Boardman difficult to navigate over the next two years, presenting economic growth concerns.

They also must contend with uncertainty from the new owners of the Southern Park Mall, Kohan Realty Investment Group, which only recently paid off its overdue property taxes of more than $1 million.

Moliterno said this is also his last term in office, leaving Calhoun, Yacovone and Gambrel to carry on and grow what this quartet has built since 2009.

Calhoun said Leicht is a big reason why he is optimistic Boardman will succeed.

“I’m grateful for the time we were able to spend because with his leadership we were able to put Boardman where we are and now we just have to get through the next few years with these new challenges,” he said.

Leicht’s visitation is 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday at Edward J. Fox & Sons Funeral Home, 4700 Market St., in Boardman.