Voters in Ashtabula County will have a two-mill renewal levy for developmental disabilities before them on the Nov. 4 ballot.
If approved, the levy would be for a total of 10 years.
Manda Jackson, Director of Quality and Community Outreach at the Ashtabula County Board of Developmental Disabilities, said the levy would provide for:
• A local match for waiver services, specifically Medicaid, for people who are eligible for the ACBDD’s services. A total of $24 million in federal and state funding was drawn down in Fiscal year 2024 by the board using local tax dollars.
• Non-waiver services, such as supporting the local Amish population who are eligible for ACBDD’s services, and anyone else who doesn’t qualify for Medicaid waivers
• Transportation for people with developmental disabilities to go to work or go to their day programs, medical appointments or community events and activities
• Early intervention supporting families and children from birth to three years old. These are children with a developmental delay or disability.
• Operational costs of the ACBDD such as staffing and administrative expenses necessary to oversee the board’s services. The majority of the staff at ACBDD are positions mandated by Ohio Revised Code and Ohio law.
“The county board uses local levy funding to draw down state and funding,” Jackson noted. “The local levy provides about 40 percent of funding to draw down an additional 60 percent of state and federal funding. It’s match funding. You can’t get the 60-percent state and federal funding without the 40-percent local match.”
Jackson stressed that the levy is a renewal and wouldn’t increase taxes. The levy is calculated based on property tax value in 1999. She noted that the amount taxpayers pay is frozen at the 1999 property value, meaning the tax will not increase even if current property values have gone up.
A separate levy, a half-mill levy, was not renewed by the board and will expire at the end of 2025, when taxpayers will stop paying on it. It generated half a million annually. Instead of renewing it, the board chose to allow it to expire and focus on the two-mill renewal levy that will be on the ballot this November.
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