AUSTINTOWN — The police department will cut some costs while the township will use the general fund to maintain the department’s service levels as much as possible.

That was the essence of a statement issued by the trustees at Tuesday’s meeting.

“We will strive to maintain the quality of services that our residents are accustomed to and deserve,” said the statement read by Trustee Robert Santos. “However, given our budget situation, some changes will be necessary. These changes are designed to minimize their impact on operations, our residents and our employees.”

The 2.4-mill levy that would have generated $2.26 million for police services in Austintown failed on Nov. 5 by a margin of 52% to 48%.

Township officials said the costs of policing have increased to the point that the department will be into the general fund for about $1 million by the end of this year. The new levy was intended to preserve state contributions that would have been lost if the township sought a replacement levy.

Trustees, Township Administrator Mark D’Apolito and police Chief Robert Gavalier said the township cut $200,000 from the police budget by minimizing training programs, changing the way the department staffs policing shifts and deferring some vehicle replacement costs.

On Monday, Gavalier said the department will not replace an officer who is retiring in January, nor another who is set to retire later next year. Other officers who retire or leave the department also will not be replaced, including four existing vacancies.

In September, Austintown secured a $750,000 Community Oriented Policing Services grant from the U.S. Department of Justice that will maintain six officers hired under that program for another three years.

Gavalier said the department also will cut back on some maintenance agreements for police cruisers and defer vehicle replacements, replacing only one or two cruisers annually instead of the regular three.

He said that for now, Austintown will keep an officer on the Mahoning County Drug Task Force and three on the Mahoning County Human Trafficking Task Force.

Trustees said the township will have to make sacrifices to keep the police force operating as it is.

“We remain committed to maintaining patrol staffing levels through the use of our general fund,” Santos said. “With the use of our general fund, our township services that make use of or depend upon the general fund will be limited. We remain committed to protecting and serving the Austintown community with the resources we have available.”

“If it means pulling from the general fund and it shortfalls some other departments along the way, that’s what we will do to continue to keep the services that you deserve from our police department consistent with the way we do it today,” said Trustee Bruce Shepas.