Editing Amelia, Ohio (section)

==History==
[[File:AmeliaOH3.JPG|thumb|left|Amelia Bowdoin House]]

Amelia was not officially [[plat]]ted.<ref>{{cite book|last=Everts|first=Louis H.|title=History of Clermont County, Ohio, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers|url=http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=yale.39002054234126;view=1up;seq=551|year=1880|publisher=J.B. Lippincott & Co.|location=Philadelphia|page=435}}</ref> The area was originally called Milltown, later shortened to Milton. However, when a post office was established in 1836, there was already a [[West Milton, Ohio|Milton]] Post Office in the state. Various accounts state that the post office was named Amelia after Amelia Bowdoin, a well known and popular tollkeeper on the Ohio Turnpike (present-day [[Ohio State Route 125|State Route 125]]). Her home is now known as the Amelia Bowdoin House and stands at 94 West Main Street, across the street from its original location.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.clermontcountyohio.gov/history/history_villages_amelia.htm |title=Clermont County, Ohio: History of Amelia |access-date=2008-01-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080127113603/http://www.clermontcountyohio.gov/history/history_villages_amelia.htm |archive-date=2008-01-27 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.postalhistory.com/postoffices.asp?task=display&state=OH&county=Clermont | title=Clermont County | publisher=Jim Forte Postal History | access-date=16 January 2016}}</ref><ref name="Sun Hunt">{{cite news|title=The Forgotten Women of Clermont County: How did the village of Amelia get its name exactly?|first=Sarah|last=Hunt|work=[[The Clermont Sun]]|publisher=Champion Media|date=June 25, 2018|access-date=November 10, 2019|url=https://www.clermontsun.com/2018/06/25/the-forgotten-women-of-clermont-county-how-did-the-village-of-amelia-get-its-name-exactly/}}</ref> However, there is no census record of an Amelia Bowdoin; Amelia may have been a corruption of the name of Armilla Bodin, the wife of a tollkeeper.<ref name="Sun Hunt" /><ref>{{cite web|title=And They Lived in Amelia: Amelia Bodin|first=Pam|last=Troxell|publisher=Clermont County Ohio Historical Society|date=2012|access-date=November 10, 2019|url=http://clermont-county-history.org/historical-articles/amelia-bodin.html}}</ref> Amelia was incorporated as a village on December 20, 1900.<ref name="WLWT London">{{cite news|title=Amelia voted itself out of existence: Now what?|first=John|last=London|work=[[WLWT-TV]]|publisher=Hearst Television|date=November 7, 2019|access-date=November 8, 2019|url=https://www.wlwt.com/article/amelia-voted-itself-out-of-existence-now-what/29730377}}</ref>

Amelia's population rose from 4,801 in the [[2010 United States Census|2010 census]] to an estimated 5,009 in 2018. Under state law, the village would have been required to become a city after it posted a population over 5,000 in the [[2020 United States census|2020 census]]. In preparation for becoming a city, it adopted a charter in November 2017,<ref name="Enquirer Vilvens" /><ref name="Sun Milam">{{cite news|title=Anger boils over in Amelia|first=Brett|last=Milam|work=The Clermont Sun|location=Batavia, Ohio|publisher=Champion Media|date=July 17, 2018|access-date=November 7, 2019|url=https://www.clermontsun.com/2018/07/17/anger-boils-over-in-amelia/}}</ref> though the change in status was not reflected in the [[Ohio Secretary of State]]'s roster of municipalities.<ref>{{cite book|chapter=Villages, Statutory|chapter-url=https://ohioroster.ohiosos.gov/download_documents/Village_Officials_Statutory2018-2019.xlsx|chapter-format=Microsoft Excel|title=The Ohio Municipal, Township and School Board Roster|publisher=Ohio Secretary of State|date=2018|access-date=November 19, 2019|url=https://ohioroster.ohiosos.gov/muni_townships.aspx}}</ref> Among other changes, becoming a city would have protected Amelia from dissolution.<ref name="Enquirer Wartman wrong" />

===Dissolution===
[[File:AmeliaOH2.JPG|thumb|left|Eastbound [[Ohio State Route 125|State Route 125]] (Main Street) in Amelia]]

In 2008, Amelia Village Council proposed a one-percent [[Income tax in the United States|income tax]] to cover maintenance of [[Ohio State Route 125]] within the village. In response to the proposal, Amelia Residents for Fiscal Responsibility gathered a [[petition]] to [[Dissolution (law)|dissolve]] the village into [[Pierce Township, Clermont County, Ohio|Pierce]] and [[Batavia Township, Ohio|Batavia]] townships. The Clermont County Board of Elections initially rejected the petition after invalidating many of the signatures, but the group succeeded in adding the [[Popular initiative|initiative]] to a May 5, 2009, special election.<ref name="Sun Milam" /> Amelia survived the election by a margin of 865 to 401.<ref name="Enquirer Brunsman">{{cite news|title=Abolish Amelia, petitioners demand|first=Barrett J.|last=Brunsman|work=The Cincinnati Enquirer|publisher=Gannett Company|date=2009-01-29|access-date=2009-01-29|url=http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20090129/NEWS01/301290099/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090201052406/http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20090129/NEWS01/301290099/|archive-date=2009-02-01|quote=Residents who want to dissolve this Clermont County village have submitted petitions asking that voters be allowed to decide the matter in May. ... Village Council must adopt a resolution before Feb. 19 to get the issue on the May 5 ballot.}}</ref><ref name="WCPO vote results">{{cite news|title=Amelia Voters Decide Against Dissolution|first=Lynn|last=Giroud|work=[[WCPO-TV]]|location=[[Cincinnati, Ohio]]|publisher=[[E. W. Scripps Company]]|date=2009-05-06|access-date=2009-05-08|url=http://www.wcpo.com/news/local/story/Amelia-Voters-Decide-Against-Dissolution/bHLwBDSvqkm1nskUe4eMHA.cspx|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090507084219/http://www.wcpo.com/news/local/story/Amelia-Voters-Decide-Against-Dissolution/bHLwBDSvqkm1nskUe4eMHA.cspx|archive-date=7 May 2009|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

On February 5, 2018, the council unanimously adopted the proposed one-percent income tax in an emergency ordinance, without the usual three readings, to meet a deadline imposed by the Regional Income Tax Authority.<ref name="Enquirer Vilvens" /><ref name="Sun Milam" /> The tax went into effect on July 1, 2018, making Amelia the last village in Clermont County to impose an income tax after cuts to the state's local government fund and one of more than 600 cities and villages in Ohio that tax income.<ref name="NYT Mervosh" /> Former councilmember Renee Gerber subsequently led a petition drive for dissolution. A June 29 council meeting became heated over the tax and dissolution campaign.<ref name="Sun Milam" />

On November 5, 2019, residents voted to dissolve the village by a margin of 843 to 479. Amelia was split between Pierce and Batavia townships along State Route 125. [[Newtonsville, Ohio|Newtonsville]] residents voted for dissolution the same day.<ref name="Enquirer Wartman">{{Cite news|url=https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2019/11/06/election-2019-amelia-and-newtonsville-voted-not-exist/4175623002/|title=Two villages voted themselves out of existence on Tuesday|last=Wartman|first=Scott|work=The Cincinnati Enquirer|publisher=Gannett Company|language=en|date=2009-11-06|access-date=2019-11-06}}</ref> Dissolution took effect at 10:00&nbsp;AM on November 25, 2019, when the election results were certified.<ref name="WLWT London" /> Gerber was elected to serve as the village's final mayor during a yearlong transition period under the oversight of the [[Ohio State Auditor]],<ref name="WCPO dissolve" /><ref name="Sun Alley">{{cite news|title=Pierce Twp. holds special meeting to answer 'what-ifs' {{sic|surro|nding|nolink=y}} possible Amelia dissolve|first=Megan|last=Alley|work=The Clermont Sun|location=Batavia, Ohio|publisher=Champion Media|date=October 17, 2019|access-date=November 7, 2019|url=https://www.clermontsun.com/2019/10/17/pierce-twp-holds-special-meeting-to-answer-what-ifs-surronding-possible-amelia-dissolve/}}</ref> but upon the auditor's advice, Hart was retained to carry out the village's remaining administrative responsibilities. Amelia residents will continue to pay the one-percent income tax until at least ${{format price|3000000}} in debt is paid off.<ref name="Enquirer Wartman wrong">{{cite news|title=What could go wrong? After an Ohio village voted to dissolve, just about everything|first=Scott|last=Wartman|work=The Cincinnati Enquirer|date=April 1, 2020|access-date=November 4, 2020|url=https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2020/04/01/amelia-clermont-county-ohio-village-dissolved/5101777002/}}</ref> Amelia was by far the most populous village in state history to be dissolved and the first to be partitioned between two townships.<ref name="Enquirer Wartman" /><ref name="Sun Alley" />