Ohio Counties Increase Taxes to Cover Foster Care Increases

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A significant action during last week’s election took place in several Ohio counties.  In the November 7 election, 13 Ohio counties had children services levies on the ballot with some county leaders indicating the requests were being driven by increasing foster care caseloads. Twelve of the 13 counties ok’d levies. Some of these property tax levies were either new levies or existing levies with increases.  Forty-eight out of 88 Ohio counties have children’s services levies.

Angela Sausser, Executive Director of Public Services Association of Ohio, indicated in published reports that voters are seeing the stress the opioid epidemic is having on children services agencies. Sausser said that Ohio has experienced a 10 percent increase in kids in foster care in the past year.  According to some news reports, Ohio’s foster care numbers are up to 15,000 from 12,300 in 2012.

Vinton County, in southeast Ohio was the 48th county in the state with a children services levy. Vinton’s children services levy is new at 1.5-mill levy which will last for the next 10 years. Lake county at the northeast of Ohio also renewed it levy and increased it with 58 percent of voters approving the action.  There has been a reported 38 percent increase in children placed in custody since 2010.