FORT RECOVERY - Voters on Nov. 5 will decide the fate of two levies - one for storm water control in the village and another for fire protection in the Southwest Mercer Fire District.

Fort Recovery's storm water renewal levy has been in effect for nearly 20 years and would continue to help finance the mitigation of flooding problems.

If approved by voters, the 2.5-mill, five-year levy would generate approximately $58,450 a year and cost the owner of a home valued at $100,000 roughly $76.50 a year, according to Mercer County Auditor Randy Grapner.

The levy was first passed in the early 1990s after severe flooding occurred in town.

In 1998, with the assistance of federal emergency management agency funds, Fort Recovery officials completed a $1.5 million relocation of two apartment houses, the town's fire department and more than 20 other buildings. The facilities were moved to higher ground after repeated flooding. The removal of the buildings also created green space.

Since then, levy money has helped address isolated surface water issues around the village, officials said.

Southwest Mercer Fire District

Voters in the Southwest Mercer Fire District will determine if financing stays in place for fire protection in Fort Recovery and Recovery, Gibson and Washington townships, fire chief Kim Day said.

If approved, the five-year levy would be renewed at 1.5 mills with an increase of .4 mills. It would generate approximately $194,827 a year, costing the owner of a home valued at $100,000 about $53.41 a year, Grapner said.

The additional mills are needed for increasing costs, Day said. District officials decided to pursue a renewal-with-increase levy instead of a replacement levy to save taxpayers money, he said.

A new law passed in Ohio Gov. John Kasich's two-year budget bill removes the state's 12.5 percent rollback from new and replacement levies beginning in 2014.