Clermont County Senior Services will be back on the ballot with a levy this November as it has been every five years since 1982 when its first levy was approved by voters.

The current 1.3 mill levy will expire Dec. 31, and must be renewed for funding to continue. Renewal of the levy will not increase taxes.

The levy costs homeowners only $3.16 per month for every $100,000 in property valuation.

According to Clermont County Senior Services Executive Director George Brown, the levy provides approximately 80 percent of the agency’s funding. Without the levy, Senior Services might not be able to continue operating.

“We would be faced with having to consider shutting down services,” Brown said. “We receive other state and federal dollars, but the levy provides the matching money we need to receive that money.”

Every year, Clermont County Senior Services touches the lives of nearly 5,000 older adults through a variety of programs. Funds that come from the levy are used to provide services such as meals-on-wheels, adult day care, medical transportation, in-home personal care, and other services.

Brown said that 80 percent of the participants in these programs are on fixed incomes and have little or no family support.

He said that nearly half of these participants are in their 80s and 90s, and that meals-on-wheels and other services are all that stands between many of them and having to move to a nursing home.

“Easily more than half of the seniors we serve would be faced with immediate nursing home placement or having to enter a nursing home sooner than would be otherwise necessary without these programs,” Brown said.

Senior Services has been taking steps to reduce expenses in response to the economic situation since 2008. These measures include a wage freeze that has been in effect since 2008, an increase in the employee share of health premiums, and the reduction of eight full-time and several part-time positions. Other changes, such as reducing meals-on-wheels deliveries from once per day to once per week have been made.

Brown says that the levy has enjoyed strong support from the community since it was first passed, and he hopes that support will continue with this election.

“As I have visited with groups around the county, I’ve heard many positive comments,” Brown said. “We do appreciate the community’s support of the services we provide and hope for their votes on Nov. 8.”