Voters in five municipalities will be asked about allowing small games of chance on the May 19 ballot.

The Butler County Board of Elections, which includes two county commissioners, on Wednesday approved placing the question on the ballot in Brady, Lancaster, Venango and Worth townships, as well as Portersville. Voters will be asked if they “favor the issuance of licenses to conduct small games of chance,” such as 50/50 tickets.

County Treasurer Diane Marburger sent letters to these municipalities to get the question on the ballot.

“I’m hoping they pass that,” Marburger said in an interview.

In 1988, a state law allowed municipalities to decide whether to allow these games to take place in their boundaries by placing a question on the election ballot.

As of this year, there were seven municipalities in the county that had not allowed small games of chance. Marburger said this makes her job harder, because people coming in seeking permits to have these games have to be told what locations they are not allowed to hold the games or sell tickets.

Marburger said that the question only can be placed on ballots during municipal election years, so the next time that can happen is 2017.

If the five municipalities pass the questions, the only two municipalities in the county that would not have small games of chance legalized are Allegheny Township and West Liberty. Marburger said that those two municipalities did not respond to her letter. She hopes to get the two remaining municipalities on board in 2017.

New polling place

Additionally, the board of elections voted to change the polling location in Valencia from the borough building at 61 Almira St. to the Valencia Presbyterian Church Social Hall at 80 Sterrett St.

Shari Brewer, director of elections, said that the borough building is small, not compliant with the Americans With Disabilities Act and has a small, gravel parking lot, which makes it difficult to traverse for some people.

The social hall, she said, is ADA-compliant and has a large, paved parking lot.

Assessment appeals

Also at Wednesday’s meeting, county commissioners approved three tax settlement appeal statements.

Lowe’s in Butler Township has a new fair market value of $7.1 million, down from $10.5 million; Lowe’s in Cranberry Township has a new fair market value of $8 million, down from $13.6 million; and three Armco Advanced Materials Corp. properties in Butler have a combined new fair market value of $2.6 million, down from $4.5 million.

Chris Savage, chief assessor for the county, said he is not sure if taxes on those properties have been paid yet. If so, the county could lose $9,300 in tax money from Lowe’s in Butler Township, $15,700 from Lowe’s in Cranberry Township and $5,200 from Armco Advanced Materials.