Athens County voters will go to the polls Tuesday and decide on Issues 8 and 9, which would benefit Children Services and the mentally retarded if they are passed.
Issue 8 was placed on the ballot for Athens County Children Services to conquer the challenge of caring for more children every year. Caseworkers already work very hard, said public information officer Andy Ellinger, and the tax levy could help the workers out.
(The caseworkers) can only be stretched so thin
he said.
Issue 8 is a proposed 3 mill, 10-year levy that would allow Children Services to deal with the increased case load it has have endured recently. The tax would cost $66 per $100,000 home in property taxes a year, Ellinger said.
The levy will cancel out a 1.5 mill levy from 1997; therefore, the levy is only for a net gain of another 1.5 mills, Ellinger said.
In 1997, when the last Children Services levy was passed, Children Services had 50 children in its care. Last year, it had 121 children, he said. Since 1997, Children Services has employed about 40 caseworkers.
In addition to the increase in children, costs for the organization have more than quadrupled, Ellinger said.
If the levy does not pass, Ellinger said Children Services still must provide services to Athens County children, as required by the state. However, service efficiency might decline, he said.
Issue 9, if passed, would help with maintenance and operation costs for Beacon School and the ATCO Sheltered Workshop for persons with mental retardation and developmental disabilities.
Beacon School, 801 W. Union St., has faced several recent cuts in federal and state money, said Beacon School Superintendent Jody Harris. The cuts already have forced Beacon School to cut seven full-time jobs and one part-time job, and though the school will continue to operate, more cuts would have to be made if the levy does not pass, Harris said.
We've cut everywhere that we can without cutting programs she said.
The Beacon School serves people from birth to 21, with 40 students at Beacon School, 18 in preschool and 25 infants who receive home services in Athens County.
Approximately 45 percent of the school's $5.5 million budget comes from government funding, Harris said, and the cuts are not finished. The cuts will continue, she said, so Beacon School will have to rely more on the 65 percent of its budget that comes from property taxes.
The levy that is on the ballot Tuesday is not an extra property tax but a replacement of other taxes already passed. In 1977 and 1994, Athens County voters approved 1 mill and 1.85 mill levies, respectively. The replacement levy simply updates old language from the other bills, Harris said.
The Athens County Commissioners cannot take official positions on levy issues but said there is not much opposition to either of them, said Commissioner Lenny Eliason.
I think these issues pretty much stand on their own Eliason said.
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Chris Yonker
Issues 8, 9 aim to benefit Children Services, mentally disabled
