Karen Scherra, executive director of the Clermont County Mental Health and Recovery Board, speaks to the Clermont County Commissioners during their meeting on July 22.

Karen Scherra, executive director of the Clermont County Mental Health and Recovery Board, speaks to the Clermont County Commissioners during their meeting on July 22.
By Megan Alley
Sun staff

The Clermont County Commissioners unanimously approved resolutions enabling Children’s Protective Services and the Mental Health and Recovery Board to put five-year renewal levies on the November 3 ballot.

The commissioners made the decision during their meeting on July 22.

Voters will decide whether or not to renew the .8 mil levy for CPS and the .5 mil levy, with a .25 mil increase, for the MHRB.

“We’re not deciding whether or not to tax the voters,” said Commissioner Ed Humphrey during the July 8 meeting, when the commissioners informally approved the two requests. “We’re deciding to let the voters decide whether or not they want to tax themselves for these very necessary services.”

The CPS levy is anticipated to net $3,319,189 annually, according to Clermont County Chief Deputy Auditor Chuck Tilbury.

This amount is about 49 percent of CPS’s annual operating revenue, according to Judy Eschmann, director of Job and Family Services.

“The levy makes up half of our operating revenue. I can’t imagine what services would look like if we only had half a budget,” Eschmann said.

If the CPS renewal levy is approved, the owner of a homestead property with a taxable value of $35,000, which is a market value of $100,000, would pay $23.66 in taxes each year.

A homestead property is a home which is owned by and is the usual residence of the owner, along with all the surrounding land and any buildings on that land.

“Our number one mandate is to keep children safe. We do that by investigating allegations of abuse and neglect, but the work we do with families goes far beyond investigation,” Eschmann said.

The MHRB levy is anticipated to net $3,139,188 annually, according to Tilbury.

This amount is about 48 percent the MHRB’s annual operating revenue, according to Karen Scherra, executive director of the MHRB.

“The combination of decreasing state funding and increasing needs for both mental health and addiction services, especially for those individuals in the county impacted by the heroin epidemic, makes this levy necessary so that additional local resources are available to address needs and help people achieve recovery from these illnesses,” Scherra said in an email.

If the MHRB renewal levy, with a .25 mil increase, is approved, the owner of a homestead property with a taxable value of $35,000 would pay $23.54 in taxes each year.