MARIETTA, Ohio (WTAP) - This November, voters will decide whether to increase funding for the Washington County Board of Developmental Disabilities for the first time in over two decades.
A replacement levy for the developmental disabilities board is on the ballot for the November 4 election.
This is the first time the board has sought new funding through a ballot measure since 2003.
According to developmental disabilities board superintendent Tiffany Neill, levy dollars make up around two-thirds of the board’s total budget. The funding enables the board to provide numerous services to hundreds of children and adults with developmental disabilities, including early intervention, case management and special education at the Ewing School.
“We serve those from cradle to death, through the course of their lifespan,” Neill said. “That . . .allows us to provide early intervention services for those young kiddos coming up. And then we offer the school services, which has clearly been a need.”
Neill said the current levy that was first adopted in 2003 is based on the appraised property values from the time, meaning the funding it provides hasn’t kept up with rising costs.
According to the ballot language, the levy will collect $7,027,000 annually at a rate of up to 3.6 mills for each dollar of taxable property value, which amounts to $126 per $100,000 of appraised value.
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