Butler County social services agencies to ask for levy renewals while aiding during coronavirus – InsuranceNewsNet

InsuranceNewsNet — Your Industry. One Source.™

Sign in
  • Subscribe
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact
Home Now reading Newswires
Topics
    • Life Insurance
    • Annuity News
    • Health/Employee Benefits
    • Property and Casualty
    • Advisor News
    • Washington Wire
    • Regulation News
    • Sponsored Content
    • Webinars
    • Monthly Focus
  • INN Exclusives
  • NewsWires
  • Magazine
  • Free Newsletters
Sign in or register to be an INNsider.
  • INN Exclusives
  • NewsWires
  • Magazine
  • Free Newsletters
  • Insider
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Editorial Staff
  • Contact
  • Newsletters

Get Social

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
Newswires
Newswires RSS Get our newsletter
Order Prints
May 20, 2020 Newswires No comments
Share
Share
Tweet
Email

Butler County social services agencies to ask for levy renewals while aiding during coronavirus

Hamilton Journal News (OH)

May 20--The Mental Health and Addiction Recovery Services Board (MHARS) and the Council on Aging of Southwest Ohio both plan to place levy renewal requests on the ballot this fall, measures they say won't increase taxes but are critical to continued operations.

MHARS Board Executive Director Scott Rasmus said the board needs more money than the 1-mill, $7.5 million levy brings because they are in deficit spending. He said inflation has ballooned costs 26 percent through the years but revenues have not increased.

"You're going to say even with this levy passing you're losing, you're in deficit spending," Rasmus told the county commissioners Monday. "The first thing we need to do before we can talk about anything else is to hold onto this levy."

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. Rasmus said about one in every 10 residents (35,000) were "touched by our services" last year compared to about 28,000 in 2018. The opioid epidemic increased the numbers.

A levy passed in 2006 because the existing 0.5-mill levy that generated $1.5 to $2 million wasn't covering expenses has been renewed since. It covers about half the board's budget and is the most "flexible" revenue source since many state and federal grants limit what the dollars can be used for. Those grants are also time-limited.

"This money is the most flexible of all the money we get," Rasmus said. "The money we get from the state and federal government is earmarked to special populations like women's treatment, K-through-12 education, toward prevention, so there's a lot of strings attached."

When the mental health and addiction services merged in 2015 it was thought the mental health levy was restricted to mental health services. Butler County Prosecutor Mike Gmoser issued an opinion that addictions are classified as mental health issues so the funds could be spent for both.

The MHARS levy expires next year but the board needs to also ask for additional money soon. Rasmus said if the levy fails, it can try again next year, but that doesn't give them much cushion.

"When we hit the spring of 2022 we are at two months of reserves, which is below the board three-month minimum policy and we'd have to start cutting programs," Rasmus said.

Rasmus said some believe there is going be a "behavioral health surge" soon due to the coronavirus pandemic that is also taxing resources.

"If it comes back and we need to stay in place again, there could be stress, anxiety, suicides, overdose increases," he said. "We need to respond to those quickly in a fast fashion."

Commissioner T.C. Rogers said a lot of residents may ask "what does this do for me." Rasmus replied about 25 percent or 100,000 residents likely suffer some type of disorder but only about half seek services. His board has outreach, education and "readiness to be there for folks when they need us."

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 Service Program costs about $294 monthly, compared to $4,340 for nursing home care.

Ken Wilson, vice president of program operations, told the commissioners officials use other funding sources like insurance and Medicaid before tapping into levy funds.

"It is designed to keep seniors independent in their home where they'd like to be. It enables them to stay at home and be independent with dignity in the homes that they are familiar with, and with family and community they want to be with," Wilson said. "It prevents costly and unnecessary nursing home placements which can save taxpayer money."

The elderly services levy fund will have an estimated $10 million beginning balance for 2021.

During the coronavirus pandemic so far, the agency has provided 2,758 emergency 14-day meal kits, transitioned 462 congregate meal clients to home delivery and established a hotline signing up 100 new clients in six weeks.

The commissioners must approve placing the levies on the ballot.

The uncertainty about how November's election will be handled after the all-mail-in primary election led to more than 300 ballots being delivered late and not counted has concerned some, including Rasmus.

"It's a different approach to the election and you don't know how many people are going to get out and what that means," Rasmus said. "It's unpredictable."

___

(c)2020 the Journal-News (Hamilton, Ohio)

Visit the Journal-News (Hamilton, Ohio) at www.journal-news.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Older

APPNA DMV Partners with Wall Street Alliance Group to Support First Responders

Newer

AM Best Places Credit Ratings of Oregon Dental Service and Moda Health Plan, Inc. Under Review With Positive Implications

Advisor News

  • Lexington native convicted of fraud over $1 billion company faces new charges
  • PERSONAL FINANCE: Understanding wills and trusts in estate planning
  • How to master employee benefits
  • Ohio businessman guilty of investment scheme
  • Layoffs may be on the horizon. Is the unemployment insurance system ready?
More Advisor News

Annuity News

  • Prudential FlexGuard reaches $10B total sales milestone at record pace
  • Retirees can rely on annuities as a source of guaranteed income for life
  • Lottery ticket bought in Illinois wins $1.337 billion
  • Mega Millions becomes Mega Billion for Friday drawing
  • Confused by huge Mega Millions prize? Here are some answers
More Annuity News

Health/Employee Benefits News

  • North Carolina woman convicted in $34 million health care fraud scheme
  • Growing number of workers enroll in high deductible health plans
  • The Schumer-Manchin deal’s ACA provision creates another budgetary ‘cliff’
  • They wanted to stop Obamacare. They may have protected abortion rights in Wyoming instead.
  • Miami doctor sentenced in $38 million health care fraud scheme
More Health/Employee Benefits News

Life Insurance

  • How to get the most out of Life Insurance Awareness Month
  • Life application activity down in July, MIB Index reports
  • Dentist found guilty of murdering his wife for life insurance on African safari
  • Should student loan borrowers also get life insurance?
  • NCOIL resolution: certain enhanced cash surrender value endorsements are violations
More Life Insurance

- Presented By -

How to Write For InsuranceNewsNet

Find out how you can submit content for publishing on our website.
View Guidelines

FEATURED OFFERS

Grow your life insurance business with John Hancock • It’s time to see how our cutting-edge solutions can help you and your clients get to know us.

Press ReleasesAll press releases

  • CybeReady Supports Security Defenses with CISO Toolkit
  • Life and Disability Income Insurance Products from MassMutual Now Available on iPipeline®’s End-to-End Digital Platform
  • Business on the Go with The Crump Mobile App
  • iPipeline® Provides Advisors Excel with Unified Path Toward Accessing Core Data Analytics in Financial Services
  • iPipeline® Adds Speed of Underwriting to Quote Engine with Ethos to Deliver Insurance to Agents in Minutes
Add your Press Release >

Topics

  • Life Insurance
  • Annuity News
  • Health/Employee Benefits
  • Property and Casualty
  • Advisor News
  • Washington Wire
  • Regulation News
  • Sponsored Content
  • Webinars
  • Monthly Focus

Top Sections

  • Life Insurance
  • Annuity News
  • Health/Employee Benefits News
  • Property and Casualty News
  • AdvisorNews
  • Washington Wire
  • Insurance Webinars

Our Company

  • About
  • Editorial Staff
  • Magazine
  • Write for INN
  • Advertise
  • Contact

Sign up for our FREE e-Newsletter!

Get breaking news, exclusive stories, and money- making insights straight into your inbox.

select Newsletter Options
Facebook Linkedin Twitter
© 2022 InsuranceNewsNet.com, Inc. All rights reserved.
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • AdvisorNews

Sign in with your INNsider Account

Not registered? Become an INNsider.