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Voter support for Butler County levies will continue programs with wide wins

Hamilton Journal News - 11/5/2020

Nov. 5--Butler County voters soundly supported renewal levies for mental health and addiction and elderly services, measures that officials said will ensure those agencies can continue to offer critical help during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Mental Health and Addiction Recovery Services Board and Council on Aging of southwest Ohio both had renewal levies on the ballot. Unofficial totals showed voters supported the 1-mill MHARS board levy by a 73% to 27% margin. Vote totals gave the Elderly Services Program an advantage of 77% to 23% margin.

The results are not yet final as the Board of Elections will continue counting provisional ballots until Nov. 18 when officials certify the election.

The MHARS Board oversees the county mental health and addiction system and provides funding, strategic planning, quality assurance and needs assessments for outside service providers.

The Council on Aging manages the $10 million elderly services levy that provides programming so seniors can stay at home as long as possible, and the agency served 4,121 clients last year. It pays for services including transportation, meals, mental health, adult day services, housekeeping and repairs.

The elderly services levy that brings in about $10 million expires this year. Expenses projected for this year total $11.57 million, and the agency does have some other smaller revenue sources.

Suzanne Burke, president and CEO of the Council on Aging, said the ESP program would endednext November, when $10 million in reserves dries up, if the levy failed.

"We're just watching what happens with the pandemic and currently it's not good," Burke said. "There has been a disproportionate impact on seniors so we're really worried about what's happening right now."

The Elderly Service Program costs about $294 per resident monthly, compared to $4,340 for nursing home care. During the pandemic, when seniors have been sheltered in place, 130 individuals began receiving home-delivered meals during the pandemic, including existing ESP clients. As of Sept. 30 they delivered 3,858 14-day shelf stable boxes.

MHARS Executive Director Scott Rasmus said passing the $7.5 million levy gives the board some extra time to evaluate when they need to ask residents for a new levy to keep up with the growing demand for services. The board has not had an income increase in 14 years, and budget pressures will push reserves to the critical point in 2022.

"The last time we had new money was in 2006 and there is a lot that has happened," Rasmus said. "Obviously the Great Recession of 2008, the opiate and meth epidemic, the merger of the two boards, inflation and the growing population."

Rasmus said the board has received about $200,000 in federal funding to expand programs like the mental health hotline and mobile crisis team. The county commissioners have also earmarked but not yet approved $500,000 in CARES money to help with mental health issues caused by the isolation and depression the pandemic has spurred.

Rasmus envisions programming, in addition to their crisis intervention services, that would target those hardest hit by the pandemic like "public health workers and front line folks."

"We've got to look at expanding services to them. We've got the hotline and the mobile crisis team to do that, but one size doesn't fit all and other folks may need other programming," Rasmus said. "Maybe even more outreach because sometimes folks don't want to admit the stress and anxiety and depression and sometimes you've got to reach out."

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