BEAVERCREEK — Voters in Beavercreek turned down a 1 percent income tax that would have generated an estimated $14 million dollars in the first year it was active.

Unofficial results from the Greene County Board of Elections show that 14,126 voters said no, while 13,045 said yes to the income tax. Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose gave county election officials until Nov. 18 to complete their final count of votes. As of Wednesday morning, there were more than 4,500 outstanding absentee and provisional ballots in the county, but it was unknown how many of those were for Beavercreek residents.

“It was definitely a different and challenging election cycle due to COVID-19, which limited the traditional in-person educational and informational opportunities,” said City Manager Pete Landrum. “Staff will meet with city council to review the options to determine the next steps. We do want to take the opportunity to say thank you to all residents who took the time to vote.”

The 1 percent city income tax was intended to diversify and reduce Beavercreek’s reliance on city property taxes. The city proposed allowing the 3.4 mill street levy to expire effective Dec. 31, 2021 reducing city property taxes by $101.46 per $100k of home value per year. The income tax would have also helped the city reduce and or eliminate future city property tax levies and thus change the city’s funding method, according to a release from the city.

The income tax would have required all persons working in Beavercreek to pay the tax, including nonresidents and therefore contribute to the costs for city services. An estimated 75 percent of the workforce in Beavercreek are non-residents, which would have accounted for nearly an estimated two thirds of the revenue generated by the income tax, according to city officials.

If the tax had been approved by voters, the revenue first would have been used to fund street operations and capital projects that were previously funded by the expiring street levy. Additional revenue would have been used for general municipal operations, maintenance, equipment, municipal services, facilities, and to fund $200 million in backlog infrastructure and capital improvements.

Moving forward, the pressing need will be to ensure that the city addresses funding options for the street levy that expires Dec. 31, 2021 as well as the backlog of infrastructure, the release indicated. The voted 3.4-mill street levy is the main operating and staff funding for streets and public services.