Issue 29: Portage County Board of Developmental Disabilities, renewal tax levy (combining two levies), programs and services, 2.9 mills for 10 years commencing in 2024, first due in calendar year 2025.
The county auditor estimates the levy will generate $7,085,000 annually, which amounts to $47 for each $100,000 of appraised value.
Voter-approved levies fund 80% to 85% of the board’s budget, PCDD superintendent John Vennetti said. Issue 29, which combines a five-year, 2-mill levy with a 10-year, 0.9 mill levy, would fund almost 43% of the board’s programs and staff, he added.
PCDD serves 1,120 people throughout Portage County, up from 943 a decade ago, said Tim Torch, PCDD’s Communications/HR Manager. Even so, the agency hasn’t received additional funding dollars since voters approved its last levy bid in 2004.
The board’s three main departments – Service and Support Administration (SSA), Children’s Services and Community and Provider Relations – provide assistance to people from birth to death, Torch said. The board partially funds clients’ medical, transportation, education and assistive technology needs and fully funds youth and adult recreation programs and respite programs.
If voters reject Issue 29, the board would have no choice but to cut programs and staff, Torch said. The board would pare down to state minimum levels, retaining only its superintendent and business manager, its SSA department and the Early Intervention department housed in the Children’s Services department.
The PCDD’s Community and Provider Relations department, which provides information, employment assistance and advocacy, would fold, Torch said.
“We would have to look at everything,” Vennetti said. “Nothing’s off the table except for those things that by law we have to fund.”
Noting the generosity of Portage County voters who have never rejected one of PCDD’s levy bids, Venetti said he and his staff remain optimistic that Issue 29 will pass.
Wendy DiAlesandro is a former Record Publishing Co. reporter and contributing writer for The Portager.