This Ohio village just voted itself out of existence

GEAUGA COUNTY, Ohio — With a vote of 106-43, registered voters in Aquilla Village resoundingly decided in favor of dissolving the village after 78 years.

The vote comes after years of seeing rising costs for basic services and the village running out of money.

Tucked off Aquilla Road just southeast of Chardon in Geauga County, this cottage community of about 300 was once known as the Berkshires of Ohio, a summer getaway for the middle class looking for life on the lake. Now, it's slated to join with neighboring Claridon Township once the election results are certified by the state.

Claridon Township Trustee Jonathan Tiber expressed a sigh of relief by the vote, saying it's better to see Aquilla join Claridon Township voluntarily instead of being forced down the line by further money woes.

"They were already paying high taxes there," he said. They were going to dissolve into Claridon anyway. It was just a matter of 'when.' Is it going to be their own will through this vote, or are they going to say no to dissolution and they default into Claridon? I was really hoping they were going to do the first because money was still in their bank."

After 50 years of living here, there’s a certain charm Chuck Hendricks holds for Aquilla. But he was ready and supported seeing it dissolve as a village.

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"We can’t afford it," he said. "We don’t have enough money to get all our services done."

Tiber told News 5 there are still plenty of questions about the upcoming transition once the election results are certified by the state. He said there are plans for an advisory board to help ease the transition, but details are still being finalized.

"After the pains of the transition, because there will be challenges and there are unknowns, but after that, it’s going to be good for Claridon and it'll be good for Aquilla," Tiber said.

Tiber also added he hopes to see Aquilla Village still exist as a unified community of sorts within Claridon Township.

News 5 first reported on the possibility of the village ceasing to exist in August.

RELATED: This tiny village in Northeast Ohio may cease to exist soon

"It’s going to be Aquilla forever in my mind," Hendricks added.

Earlier this year, News 5 spoke with the Geauga County auditor about what the impact of dissolving the village would have on the residents and their taxes. We're told that residents would see their taxes fall to about 46% of the current amount, with a $100,000 home value tax going from $471.20 in Aquilla Village to $214.86 if residents were absorbed into Claridon Township. Those estimations are slated to be finalized once the election results are certified by the state.

While Aquilla was the only village to vote on dissolution, it is far from the only small municipality in the state.

According to the 2020 U.S. Census, the smallest village in the state is Miltonsburg in Southeast Ohio, with a population of 39.

Here in Northeast Ohio, the title of smallest municipality belongs to Linndale, with a population of 113.

Census data shows there are 29 villages in Northeast Ohio with fewer than 500 residents.

Since 2004, only 14 other villages have dissolved in Ohio.

More villages could vote to dissolve as lawmakers discuss more oversight of struggling villages

A bill in Columbus spearheaded by state reps Adam Mathews and Tom Young seeks to shrink the number of struggling villages.

House Bill 331, which has already cleared the House of Representatives, would require an audit of all villages every 10 years after the U.S. Census to make sure each village provides at least five of the following services:

- Police
- Fire
- Garbage collection
- Water or Sewer service
- Emergency medical services
- Road maintenance
- Park services or other recreation services
- Human services
- Public library established and operated solely by the village.

If a village is unable to meet that requirement, it would automatically trigger a ballot measure on whether or not to dissolve at the next general election.

Additionally, a vote would also be triggered if an elected village position does not have at least one person on the ballot for each vacancy.

Mathews told News 5 in the earlier report in August that the bill comes after seeing how many taxing entities Ohio has compared to other states.

"You can have a sense of place without having a taxing entity taking out of people’s budgets," he said. "All the villages, they have the final say. This is not an automatic dissolution."

Clay LePard is a special projects reporter at News 5 Cleveland. Follow him on Twitter @ClayLePard, on Facebook Clay LePard News 5 or email him at Clay.LePard@WEWS.com.

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