The majority of Ohio counties have levies restricted to specific uses, typically put on the ballot by agencies that provide social services. Montgomery County is among only a few counties that have combined human services levies, explained director of Montgomery County Human Services Planning & Development Department Jessica Jenkins and Human Services Assistant County Administrator Geraldine Pegues.
Pegues, Jenkins and Human Services Levy Council Chairman Greg Holler this week updated the Montgomery County Commission on human services in the region and what steps are next for funding them.
“We’ve done the benchmarking, we’ve looked at a lot of these service costs, not just in terms of absolute value dollars,” Holler said. “We’ve looked at them in terms of dollars per capita in a metropolitan area to understand efficiencies and looking at those in terms of that ratio, how many dollars per person in the community and how many dollars per person served. We’re really looking at the information thoroughly and carefully.”
Levy timeline
A staggered levy model was proposed to the public decades ago as a method of supporting multiple agencies that provide social services to residents under one funding umbrella. Both levies — Levy A and Levy B — span eight years.
Levy A was on the ballot in 2021, passing with nearly 75% of the vote. Levy B will return to the ballot this November, with its last renewal in 2017.
According to Montgomery County Human Services, nearly half of levy-funded services in 2023 were located in the county’s core — Dayton. The 51% of services touching Dayton is influenced in part by Montgomery County Children Services, as children in its care are typically connected to the agency’s Dayton location. The other 49% of services were spread across suburban Montgomery County.
These levies generate a combined $138 million and leverage another $212 million in additional funds to the county. Agencies funded by the Human Services levies are requesting a combined $28.4 million increase in funding in 2026 compared to what they typically receive.
‘Not sustainable’
Jenkins said that since the pandemic, agencies report a shared impact in a few areas: increased community need, additional mandated requirements and an increase to the cost of delivering services to the public.
Requests range from $1.37 million at Public Health to $18.6 million at Developmental Disabilities.
“This is not sustainable without significant state and federal help. It just isn’t,” said Montgomery County Administrator Michael Colbert. “But when we look at how much is coming out and where we have to go, we’re only going to get so far. We are really going to have to spend a lot of time advocating for state and federal help.”
The Human Services Levy Council, whose members are appointed by the county commission and other entities, this spring will make a recommendation about the levy — increasing it or keeping it the same — to the Montgomery County Commission.
The deadline to file for local questions and issues for the Nov. 4 general election is Aug. 6, according to the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office.
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