By By JAN GRIFFEY / Niles Daily Star
NILES - Niles Township's Board of Trustees voted Monday night to move $200,000 into its police department's budget to help restore night patrols in the township.
That's the first step in resolving an issue that has plagued the township's leadership for several years, said Kevin Tonkin, a Niles Township trustee and chairman of its public safety committee.
The board unanimously approved Tonkin's motion to make the funds available to the police department from the township's general fund reserves and to approve putting on the ballot in May a request for a 1-mill, four-year tax levy to help operate the township's police department.
The $200,000 approved for the police department Monday night will come from the township's reserve funds, or savings.
The township has annual expenditures in its general fund that equal about $1.3 million, so the township's reserve funds could be as great or greater than 200 percent of its annual expenditures.
However, Tonkin said not all of the reserve funds can be used for general fund expenses.
Tonkins said some residents have asked why the township can't simply borrow funds from the township's reserves to operate the police department.
Tonkin said Niles Township Police Chief John Street is working now to put together a plan to use the $200,000 to get night patrols back on the road in Niles Township.