By Ashley McCarty
There are 15 renewal levies out of 18 total on the Adams County ballot this year, all vying for the approval of voters.
Three levy renewals are for Adams County, such as the Senior Citizens Services levy.
The Adams County Senior Citizens Council hopes to renew this levy previously passed by the community. The levy, at 0.5 mills, will be renewed for another five years if passed.
“Part of the funds are distributed between Senior Services, which is our agency, and Meals on Wheels for Adams County. So that keeps them going and keeps meals delivered for those in need. It [also] allows us to have consumers — that’s what we call them — to be able to have home care services. We provide that and transportation to doctor’s appointments, but home care is the main one that we try to focus on; to get them services such as cleaning their house, or meals, things like that to keep them living independently in their own home,” said Teresa Carr, Administrative Assistant at the Adams County Senior Citizens Council.
The levy, among other things, helps senior citizens maintain independence.
“Some seniors receive home care services, and others receive transportation. Just as well, there are several seniors that receive Meals on Wheels, and this levy directly supports those three services,” said Senior Center Executive Director Mary Stout.
The levy for the Adams County Health Department – listed on the ballot as Adams County General Health District – is asking for a renewal at 0.5 mills, which will renew for five years if passed.
“The levy is a renewal to fund core public health functions at the health department. That would be clean water, safe food, health and safety, immunizations. Public health in Ohio receives very little funding from the state. As a matter of fact, we get a state subsidy — I think last year it was around $5,600 — so, not a lot of money. The mass majority of funding of public health in Ohio comes from local communities, either through levies, or fee for service, like for immunizations; or contracts, like what we do with the jail. This is a renewal for a levy that was passed four years ago,” said Health Commissioner Dr. William Hablitzel.
Previously, funding for public health was done through inside millage.
“Money was diverted from the pot before it was distributed to townships. We changed the levy four years ago, we went to voters four years ago to give the voters a chance to participate in those decisions. It was better for the townships where they didn’t lose some of their money to public health. This renewal will not increase taxes,” said Hablitzel.
Funding public health keeps local control of our public health decisions in Adams County, he said.
“It enables us to provide services such as clean water for septic inspections, water systems, food, restaurants and retail establishments, to keep those services running and to be able to provide those services by local people rather than having another agency set by the state to do those. So, we’ve endeavored to try and do what we can do to keep local control of public health, and through accreditation and through changes in Ohio in the past four or five years, there’s been concern that some of those services may be consolidated with other health departments. We think it’s a good idea to keep controlled decisions in the hands of local governing boards made up of citizens of the county,” said Hablitzel.
The Adams County Board of Developmental Disabilities/Venture Productions has a renewal on the ballot for 1.6 mills for 10 years.
“The Adams County Board of Developmental Disabilities operates programs and services for individuals with disabilities through two .8 mill levies that are both up for renewal. The ACBDD has an annual budget of 1.1 million dollars. We currently are losing $460,000 annually in tax revenue since the power plants closed over two years ago and now have to pay back another $72,000 to the Adams County Auditor for the approved reduction in property taxes for Kingfisher Development Company, LLC.,” said Director Liz Lafferty.
The Adams County Board of DD is a mandated agency that provides services to individuals with disabilities from birth to death, she said.
“$500,000 is certified annually by the ACBDD for Medicaid services that allow people to attend Venture Productions and other day programs, receive transportation, have providers to help them live independently and employment services so they can be productive citizens in their community,” said Lafferty.
Local county tax dollars are used to fund early intervention services that now offer physical, occupational and speech services in the home; family support services for adaptive equipment, home modifications and respite care; Imagination Library partner for early literacy in Adams County; abuse and neglect reporting; advocacy services for families and individuals; residential support services; provider support services for certification and compliance; and transition services for high school students moving into adulthood.
“The ACBDD contracts with a program nurse, a program psychologist and interpreting services for the deaf. It is so important for Adams County residents to vote yes for the renewal levy so individuals with disabilities aren’t just sitting at home. The county board has come so far in the last 53 years of providing services and creating awareness for full inclusion for all people with disabilities in Adams County,” said Lafferty.
In the village of Manchester, along with two other levies, a renewal for street construction is on the ballot at 5 mills, which if passed will renew for five years.
“We’ve been able to pave the streets and do some road improvements. It’s just a renewal. We have been able to blacktop and do some things that we wouldn’t be able to do if we didn’t have that levy,” said Manchester Mayor Teresa Blythe.
If the levy doesn’t pass, then they’re not going to be able to continue working on the streets; either repaving them, making repairs, or making improvements.
“So, if that one doesn’t pass, then once the money that is in there is used, our street department goes back to the previous budget, which doesn’t allow for the thousands of dollars that it takes to pave the streets. Right now, I think we get about $60,000, and that doesn’t go super far, but we have been able to pave quite a bit,” said Blythe. The levy also accounts for any grants acquired in the future that may require a percentage match.
The two other levies for Manchester are some of the only on the ballot this year that are not listed as renewals. One, being a police/EMS levy, is 4 mills for a duration of five years.
“The police levy is going to be used for protection. It will be used to continue the contract with the Adams County Sheriff’s Department to contract out services, not to restart a police department. It’s not enough to do that, but, if we would ever get in a position where we could have a police department, that money could be used — whatever is left — could be used to start a department. The levy is on there for protection, and we are planning to contract with the sheriff’s department, not start a police department,” said Blythe.
If the levy is not passed, then Manchester will forfeit their contract with the sheriff’s department.
“Then they would just be taking care of things as they would any other county, they wouldn’t be making sure that we had someone down here consistently,” said Blythe.
The last levy from Manchester is a nonpartisan election/no primary levy, which will simply change Manchester’s filing deadline from March to August.
“We used to have primaries, which we no longer have anymore. So, that’s on there to move the filing deadline — anybody wanting to run for council, mayor, any village position — they have until August. It sets it as the same date as the rest of the county. It just allows us to go back to having the same filing deadline as the rest of the county, since we no longer have a primary,” said Blythe.