By Megan Alley
Sun staff
The Clermont County Commissioners approved putting a Senior Services levy and a Developmental Disabilities levy on the March primary ballot.
The commissioners made the decision during their meeting on Dec. 9.
This spring, voters will decide whether or not to approve a 1.3 mill renewal levy for Senior Services and a 1.4 mill replacement levy for Developmental Disabilities.
Clermont Senior Services provides a broad range of in-home services to keep seniors living in their own homes for as long as possible, delaying nursing home placement and saving taxpayers money, according to Cindy Jenkins Gramke, executive director and CEO for Clermont Senior Services, in a presentation to the commissioners on Oct. 15.
If the Senior Services 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 continue to pay $38.47 in taxes each year.
The current Senior Services levy was passed in 2000.
In 2014, 73 percent of all revenue for services came directly from local taxpayers through the levy, according Gramke.
“That money is also used to leverage match funding from federal and state sources to serve more people,” said Gregory Carson, chief financial officer for Clermont Senior Services.
The number of Clermont County residents age 60 and over is expected to increase by 23,101 in 2000 to a projected 51,138 in 2020, according Gramke.
The current levy has brought in a significant decline in revenue resulting from real property revaluation, according to Gramke.
“There was a $750,000 annual reduction in levy revenue at its most significant difference,” Gramke said. “A renewal only will result in demand exceeding available resources, leading to caps in service, waiting lists and continual assessment to reprioritization of services.”
“To make the money go as far as possible, Clermont Senior Services will continue to be good and responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars and seek ways to be the most we can be to seniors in Clermont County,” said Gramke.
The Developmental Disabilities replacement levy aims to combine and replace a .4 mill continuous levy that was originally passed in 1979 and a 1 mill continuous levy that was passed in 1980.
If the replacement 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 an additional $34 in taxes each year.
The Developmental Disabilities levy will benefit nearly 2,000 children and adults in Clermont County who have intellectual and developmental disabilities, according to Disabilities Superintendent Dan Ottke.
Money raised by the levy will maintain the basic services required by a growing number of people in the county, which include support for children who have multiple disabilities, support for adults to live as independently as possible and to work at a job, home-based services for children and adults, supported living and service coordination services for individuals and their families, and services for senior citizens who have developmental disabilities.
Since 2010, the Clermont County Board of Developmental Disabilities has lost more than $1.8 million annually from state and federal sources, according to Ottke, who said that 53 percent of the annual funds raised by this levy request are needed to make up for this lost revenue.
“Based on projected budget numbers, without the replacement levy, we would not be able to maintain services or address waiting lists by the end of 2017,” Ottke said.
The CCBDD exercises good stewardship of funds, according to Ottke.
“We work closely with the individual and the family to understand the need, and then we work closely with our seven-member board to strike a balance of meeting needs while working within the funds we have,” Ottke said.
Commissioner Bob Proud said that representatives from both Senior Services and the CCBDD are welcome to make future presentations to the commissioners.
“We want to see the people who benefit from your services,” Proud said.