Wood County Adult Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services will pursue a November renewal of one of its
two operating levies.
The ADAMHS board on Monday is expected to OK a try for renewal of its 10-year, 1.6-mill levy, after which
county commissioners would be asked to approve that it be placed on the ballot, said Executive Director
Tom Clemons.
The board provides community-based mental health and addiction prevention, treatment, and recovery
services in the county.
Clemons told commissioners Thursday that two local levies, the other a 10-year, 1.0-mill levy which
doesn’t expire until 2018, provide 55 percent of the agency’s budget. The levy due for renewal this year
generates about $4.3 million annually.
"It is essential," he said.
Clemons said board administration has reduced its costs by 12 percent, or about $92,000. "We feel
pretty proud about that," he said, noting that efficiencies have also been pursued in other areas.

A levy failure would result in "drastic" cuts to key services in the county, Clemons said,
adding that a key factor in pursuing renewal of the existing levy was that it keeps a state rollback in
place.
Last year, Gov. John Kasich’s two-year budget removed a policy that had the state paying for the first 10
percent of property tax bills, and an additional 2.5 percent for homes that are owner-occupied.
New and replacement levies no longer receive the credit, but the state continues to pay the rollback for
existing levies that are renewed. Thus, if renewal of the current ADAMHS levy failed and a similar one
was approved in subsequent years, landowners would pay more under the new levy even if the millage did
not increase.