Butler County voters will decide in May whether to approve a new, continuous 2‑mill levy for the Butler County Board of Developmental Disabilities.
The board currently operates on two continuous levies — 2 mills and 1 mill — that together cost property owners $53.21 per $100,000 of valuation each year. The proposed levy would add $70 per $100,000, bringing the total annual cost to $123.31, or about $10.27 per month.
If approved, the levy would generate $26.4 million annually, supplementing the roughly $24 million collected through the board’s existing operating levies.
Those levies were approved in 2000 and 2004, meaning the board’s funding is based on property values from two decades ago. During that time, the median value of a single-family home in Butler County has risen 110%, according to the board.
“We are still living on a 2004 salary in 2026,” said Superintendent Lee Ann Emmons.
In 2025, the board supported 4,293 Butler County residents: 1,831 infants and young children, 1,024 school‑age children and 1,438 adults. About 1,400 residents received services funded through local dollars and Medicaid waivers.
Emmons said waiver obligations are one of the main reasons the board now needs new revenue. Waivers allow people with developmental disabilities to choose community-based support rather than institutional care — services that can include in‑home assistance, transportation, meal delivery and employment support. The board must cover 40% of those costs, with Medicaid paying the remaining 60%.
Currently, 97% of local levy dollars are used to meet required waiver match obligations, which cannot be reduced unless a person’s eligibility or support needs change.
The number of people supported with waivers has grown from 250 in 2004 to more than 1,200 in 2024, a trend that continues to climb. Emmons said the board is also seeing “younger, more severe cases.”
To address its financial emergency — formally declared in September 2025 — the board has already made $3.7 million in cuts, including transitioning day program services to community providers, consolidating facilities and reducing its workforce. The board closed its last day program in 2016 and has since implemented a savings plan and sought help from the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities.
All staff cost‑of‑living increases are paused, full‑time employees have taken a 2.5‑hour weekly reduction (a 6.67% pay cut), promotions are frozen and vacant positions undergo review before being posted.
These measures allowed the board to avoid the ballot for more than 20 years, while maintaining “little to no disruption to services,” according to the agency.
But Emmons said the system has reached a “tipping point.”
The board also returned $7.2 million to taxpayers in 2020 and 2021 at the request of county officials, reducing its reserves. In 2025, the board brought in $28.9 million but spent $37.6 million.
“The tricky part of county boards is, I can’t just say, ‘I don’t have any more money,’ because this is a mandated service,” Emmons said. “The only way I can reduce these services is if you no longer have the need.”
But individuals with developmental disabilities have lifelong needs, she added. When costs rise or funding changes, demand for care remains.
Even if voters approve the levy, it will not restore previous cuts or staffing levels — it would “just stop the bleeding,” Emmons said. “We still have to lay staff off because our obligation has just grown so high,” she said. “We recognize that the voters only have an appetite for so much.”
Without new funding, mandated services may have to shift to the county’s general fund, and the system could face health and safety risks, lawsuits, state intervention or increased institutional care costs, which exceed community-based support.
One of the programs most at risk is early intervention — the only service the board directly provides with its own employees. “That service is currently not mandated or funded, and it is so crucial,” Emmons said.
Eliminating early intervention would save about $3.5 million annually. Transportation for competitive employment would be the next service cut, likely causing many people with disabilities to lose their jobs.
“We’ve already cut everything else,” Emmons said.