These organizations offer programs and support that can be life-saving and life-changing especially for children and families experiencing poverty.
Every day MVCDC’s Family Support Specialists – who advise each family who has a child in one of our early learning programs – link moms, dads, grandparents, guardians and foster parents with agencies that count on Human Services Levy funding. Those agencies help parents get jobs. They ensure children receive well child health care. And they help families become financially stable and independent.
That said, renewing the Human Services Levy is important to the entire community, not just those who are struggling financially. We all benefit from this investment. The levy funds restaurant inspections, supportive services for the elderly who desperately want to stay in their home, and assistance for those with cognitive or developmental issues.
Montgomery County estimates that more than 100,000 people annually receive direct benefits – and that’s before counting their families who indirectly are helped.
As I said, Issue 1 is a renewal. It will not raise taxes – even after property reappraisals. Our County Commissioners and the Human Services Levy Council – which recommends how to spend the levy proceeds based on our community’s evolving needs – understand that voters want government to control costs and be accountable to the public. They understand that there are limits on what we as a community can afford to do.
Our commissioners are holding the line on spending – but they’re committed to investing.
For more than 40 years, Montgomery County has had a combined Human Services Levy system that requires agencies that provide critical services to recognize that elected officials — and voters — must balance competing needs. Never in those four decades has a Human Services Levy been defeated.
That’s the kind of community we are.
If the levy were to fail, almost half of local human services funding would go away. Imagine how that would impact abused and neglected children, adults with disabilities, seniors who can avoid going into a nursing home if they just get help with meals and light chores at their home.
The temporary levy costs $9.50 a month per $100,000 of property value – an outstanding deal for all the good that comes from the initiative.
Montgomery County is a leader in showing the way to pay for critical government services using an innovative, transparent and cost-efficient approach I’m proud to support good government that makes Montgomery County a great place to live for all of us.
Berta Velilla is president and chief executive officer of Miami Valley Child Development Centers, the region’s Head Start agency. MVCDC has the largest Early Head Start program for infants and toddlers in Ohio.
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