Willoughby voters will consider a safety services levy on the May 2 special election ballot.

It is a 2.5-mill continuous property tax levy that will cost $87.50 per $100,000 of appraised home value annually and will generate $1,885,899 per year, according to the Lake County Auditor’s Office.

The additional levy cannot be used for wages or benefits and is intended to keep families, neighborhoods and the city safe, said Mayor Robert Fiala. It is also intended to support converting the former Meister Media building into a modern law enforcement facility, purchasing a new ladder truck and creating a sustainable revenue stream that will enable the city to meet the equipment and technology needs of first responders.

In law enforcement and in terms of the city’s facilities, everything’s changed, Fiala said. In the past 10 years, dispatch calls have risen 25%.

“We face a number of challenges,” he said. “Forty percent of crimes committed in Lake County come from people outside of Lake County. The criminals are different. The crimes are different. We’re arresting 15-year-old car thieves now, so what we’re seeing in our city today, from both the crimes and the criminals, are far different than we’ve seen over the years.”

Over the years, the city has considered a safety levy and in 2021, a study was completed to specifically look at the Willoughby Police Department and do a master plan.

“That plan was meant to evaluate our facility as it exists today and compare it to what a state-of-the-art police facility would be,” Fiala said. “The current facility is about 25,000 square feet. It should be 45,000 to 47,000 square feet.”

The current police department, located at 36700 Euclid Ave., also has aging equipment. Mechanical equipment, boilers, hot water tanks, roofs, windows and the exterior are all in need of repair.

“These boilers are outdated and wouldn’t meet current code for energy efficiency,” Fiala said. “Our jail does not meet current state codes. They’ve changed.”

Storage challenges are also being faced at the current department as there is not enough space in the building to store records.

“As part of our jail, incarceration and crime investigation, we have to do chain of custody for evidence,” Fiala said. “Although we’re getting by and our chain of custody is secure, there are better ways to maintain some of the things we’re bringing in as part of our policing efforts.”

Early last year, the city was approached by Meister Media, which has since downsized from 120 employees to 30 and has plans to relocate their offices. Through that conversation, Economic Development Director Tom Thielman came up with the idea that the building, located at 37733 Euclid Ave., would make a perfect police station.

“With additions, we think we can get it to about 35,000 or 37,000 square feet,” Fiala said. “It’s in great condition. We purchased the building December of last year. The purchase price was about $2.5 million.”

Meanwhile, the city’s aging water truck is 26 years old and 47 feet long.

“It’s a hard vehicle to navigate through our city,” Fiala said. “The solution is a smaller vehicle. Replacing fire equipment is not inexpensive.”

The city faces ongoing capital needs as police cars are purchased every year and squads are purchased every three years.

“We’ve got a lot of equipment in those cars that have to be replaced because they age out,” Fiala said.

Fiala said the levy would not only make the city safer but benefit its home values.

“Safe cities attract new business,” he said. “We all want to be safe. In the summer, when everybody’s out, you’ll see a strong presence of our officers. Our community supports our police and fire. A poll I did several years ago — we have 99% approval rating of our police and fire. We’re proud of them.”

There are currently 16,882 registered voters in Willoughby, according to the Lake County Elections Board.