Johnson Township officials are trying to pass a road maintenance renewal and replacement levy Tuesday.

Township residents will vote on a renewal of a tax for the benefit of Johnson Township, exclusive of the village of St. Paris, for the purpose of general construction, reconstruction, resurfacing and repairs of streets, roads and bridges. This five-year, one mill levy is expected to generate $36,200 annually, according to information from the Champaign County Auditor’s Office.

Residents will also vote on a replacement of a tax for the benefit of Johnson Township, exclusive of the village of St. Paris, for the purpose of general construction, reconstruction, resurfacing and repairs of streets, roads and bridges. This five-year, one mill levy is expected to generate $43,800 annually according to the auditor’s office.

“After so many years of a levy being on – because of the changes in valuations – the amount of money that we receive from it decreases over time to the point where it’s almost not bringing much in at all,” Johnson Township Trustee Dennis Kauffman said about the replacement levy. “When it gets to that point you need to do a renewal or replacement…we’re replacing it at the same millage at the previous one so there’s no change in the amount of taxes, there will be a change in the amount that it brings in.”

Kauffman said the township road conditions are pretty good and since he was a trustee, the township has been on a schedule for tar and chip every three years. A lot of the township’s roads started as gravel and Kauffman said the township is working to tar and chipping roads that are still gravel to build up a base.

Kauffman said the purpose of the levies is to have finances to continue road maintenance and improvement. He noted the money used for road maintenance also goes toward snow removal and salt purchases during the winter and costs for upgrades to road signs due to high reflectivity laws.

“If we don’t get them on the ballot and renew them at the right time and it would happen to expire it would take a year to get it back on the ballot and we’d have a year without any income for those projects,” Kauffman said.