“If this levy doesn’t pass, we have $58 million that just goes (away),” Chairman Greg Holler said. “And our community cannot survive that.”
Agencies like Montgomery County Children Services, Montgomery County Developmental Disabilities Services, Montgomery County Alcohol Drug Addiction & Mental Health Services, Older Adult Services and Public Health - Dayton and Montgomery County all receive Human Service Levy dollars.
All of these service providers have reported increases in community need, the cost to help community members and mandates they must follow to deliver those services.
The 18-member levy council recommends changes to the Human Service Levies and allocations of funding to local agencies. These recommendations are then reviewed by the Montgomery County commission.
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. Its last renewal was in 2017, at 6.03 mills.
The levy council weighed options aside from the straight renewal recommendation for Levy B — a renewal with additional millage and a replacement, which would have seen some homeowners paying more in taxes for the levy.
The two human service levies generate a combined $138 million and leverage another $212 million in additional funds to the county, according to county officials.
The ballot item, once approved by the Montgomery County commission and other entities, would appear on the Nov. 4 general election ballot.
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