01/21/2026

Butler County Board of Commissioners agree to put 2.0-mill levy on ballot

Cody Thompson

BUTLER COUNTY, Ohio — In May, Butler County residents will have the chance to vote on a 2.0-mill levy after the Butler County Board of Commissioners approved a resolution to put it on the ballot.

In September last year, the Butler County Board of Developmental Disabilities declared a fiscal emergency, “due to the fact that our projected expenses will far exceed our local tax collection for the first quarter of 2027,” an explainer on their website reads.

If the levy should pass, according to a Butler DD press release, it would generate $26.4 million per year. The cost would amount to $70 per year per property with a value of $100,000. That’s around $5.83 each month.

“This levy is not about growing our services—it’s about preserving essential programs that over 4,200 Butler County residents with developmental disabilities rely on every day,” Butler DD Board member Dan Hughes said in the release. “We’ve been responsible stewards of public dollars for more than 20 years, but the pressures we now face are beyond what can be solved with cuts alone.”

The last successful levy for Butler DD was in 2004, according to the release, and they said their revenue has been maintained even as costs increase. They said they’ve cut staff, consolidated facilities and more to delay this such a request.

“We have exhausted every internal option to manage our budget without impacting services,” Superintendent Lee Ann Emmons said in the release. “The proposed levy would allow us to stabilize funding and continue delivering critical early intervention, transportation, residential care, and employment assistance—without disruption.”

Voters will see this 2.0-mill levy on the May 2026 primary ballot.