Service providers in Butler and Warren counties are warning that programs for seniors, families and people dealing with mental health issues could be sharply reduced if voters reject three levies on the Nov. 3 ballot.
Butler County residents will decide whether to renew a levy supporting the county's Mental Health and Addiction Recovery Services Board. In Warren County, voters will weigh in on continuing two existing levies, one for the Elderly Services Program and one for the Mental Health Recovery Board Serving Warren and Clinton Counties.
All three measures are renewals rather than new or additional levies. Supporters say they will not raise what property owners pay, citing a 1976 Ohio law that requires the amount collected from a levy to decrease as property values rise. Scott Rasmus, executive director of the Butler County mental health board, said such levies lose ground over time. "Ultimately, they do lose to inflation," he said. "We're not trying to increase any tax burden on the public here. All we're trying to do is hold on to what we have."
The Butler County measure is a 1-mill levy first approved in 2006. It supports therapy, psychiatric care and education aimed at preventing alcohol and drug misuse. If approved, it would run another ten years and is estimated to bring in $8.46 million, more than a third of the board's $21 million annual budget. It costs $20 for every $100,000 of a homeowner's property value. Rasmus said the money would help expand services, including a push to add 50 beds at a residential treatment facility in Lemon Township. He said one in four Butler County residents will experience a mental health or addiction disorder each year, and that a failed levy would force cuts for critical populations. Much of the funding goes to partner providers that directly serve 50,000 residents annually. The Journal-News has reported that at least one Butler County commissioner has expressed unease about the levy following accounting issues and concerns about internal oversight.
In Warren County, a 1-mill levy for the Mental Health Recovery Board Serving Warren and Clinton Counties would continue for five years. An identical measure is on the ballot in Clinton County. It would generate close to $7.7 million a year and cost $16 annually for a $100,000 home.
Megan Crouch, associate director of SAFE on Main, said the funding makes a visible difference. Her agency supports victims of sexual and domestic violence in Warren County through protection orders, emergency therapy and a 20-bed shelter. She said the recovery board covers 75% of the agency's prevention work, including education for 400 junior and high school students each year on consent, healthy relationships and sexual harassment. Without it, she said, staff would be laid off and education cut. "Unfortunately, violence still happens here," Crouch said, noting the agency handles 1,600 crisis calls a year.
Warren County voters will also decide the fate of an expiring 1.21-mill levy for senior services, estimated to raise more than $9 million annually. It helps fund the Elderly Services Program, which assists people older than 60 so they can stay in their homes. If renewed for five years, it would cost $22 for every $100,000 of property value.
Sara Bishop, who now lives in a senior apartment building in Franklin and receives help from the program, urged support. She said it has provided someone to help around her apartment, along with a walker and an emergency response system. "We do need you to vote for us and accept the levy because as you get older, you too will be using it," she said.
Kim Clark, vice president of community services for the Ohio Council on Aging, said the program would end without the levy, which supplies 94% of its funding. "In 2025, we served 2,777 Warren County residents. Those individuals would be at risk of losing all their services in their home," she said.
