Complete Story
05/14/2026
Butler County Developmental Disabilities Board to hold course, weigh priorities after levy approval
Bryn Dippold
MOST LEVY DOLLARS USED TO MEET WAIVER REQUIRED MATCH OBLIGATIONS In 2025, the Butler County Board of Developmental Disabilities 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. Superintendent Lee Ann 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.” The new 2-mill continuing levy will cost taxpayers roughly $70 more per $100,000 annually and garner $26.4 million. Combined with the existing levies — approved in 2001 and 2004 — taxpayers would pay $123 annually for services the agency provides.
Butler County voters approved a new continuous levy for the Butler County Board of Developmental Disabilities on May 5, but agency officials say operations will remain unchanged for now.
The board, which declared a fiscal emergency in September 2025 and has already made $8.4 million in cuts to address a projected $12.1 million deficit in 2026, said its immediate approach will be “business as usual.”
“We are still in a fiscal emergency,” Superintendent Lee Ann Emmons told the Journal-News, noting the board will not begin collecting revenue from the levy until the end of the first quarter of 2027.
“We still have to be extremely conservative with our spending based on trends, increase in demand and increase in cost,” she said.
The board will continue operating under the same financial plan through the end of 2026. As of early April, officials reported $3.7 million in reductions, including transitioning day program services to community providers, consolidating facilities and reducing staffing.
Additional measures include pausing cost-of-living raises, implementing a 2.5-hour weekly reduction for full-time employees — equal to a 6.67% pay cut — freezing promotions and reviewing vacant positions before posting them.
In late April, the board announced plans to eliminate 31 positions and transfer management of its headquarters at 282 N. Fair Ave. to Butler County.
With those changes, staffing is expected to drop from 152 employees to 109 by December, Emmons said.
Despite the reductions, the board said it has maintained “little to no disruption to services” and avoided returning to voters for more than two decades. The 2026 levy was its first ballot request since 2004.
With the levy now approved, the agency plans to enter a strategic planning phase while remaining in fiscal emergency.
“We’ll also be reaching out to our stakeholders and our community to find out what is most important if we are able to bring anything back,” Emmons said.
The board plans to develop a three-year strategic plan in 2027 that will run through 2030.
At the same time, officials are continuing to advocate for changes at the state level. Emmons pointed to a proposed bill that would mandate and fund early intervention services — currently one of the board’s most vulnerable programs because it is neither mandated nor state-funded.
It is also the only service directly operated by board employees.
“We’re hopeful that there’ll be some system reform that will give some relief to the overall system because the growth and cost is not keeping up with what taxpayers can really afford to do,” she said.
Emmons said supporting community employment remains a key priority.
“We’ve worked for years and years to ensure that individuals with disabilities can be competitively employed in the community,” she said. “For me, us being able to support people to continue to do that is very important. It’s a core right for people to be employed.”
Transportation to and from jobs is a critical part of that effort, she added.
“Getting them to and from their employment is really important,” Emmons said. “It keeps them off Medicaid, it keeps them off other public benefits. They’re paying taxes, contributing to society … they’re doing what typical adults do.”
For now, the board will continue its cost-cutting measures and maintain core services.
The county will assume control of the board’s Fair Avenue building July 1, a move officials say could align with broader space reorganization plans.
County commissioners have discussed relocating Job and Family Services from the Government Services Center, potentially consolidating it near Children Services on Fair Avenue.
Commissioner Don Dixon previously said incorporating the building into the county’s long-term plan “would fit in well.”
Emmons said it remains too early to determine whether the board will seek another levy in the future. Officials have aimed to avoid returning to the ballot for at least five years.
“But that doesn’t mean we will be back in five years,” she said. “Five years feels too soon for me. I don’t see the property tax environment getting any less pressured right now.
“We are not going to be coming back to the voters any time soon. We’ll stay off as long as we possibly can. We’ll stretch those dollars. We’ll continue to be conservative. We’ll continue to advocate from the federal and state level to make sure that we can keep providing good services but aren’t going to be a strain on the local economy and the taxpayers.”