By Krystal Smalley
ksmalley@wbcowqel.com
A topic that some say needed to be discussed for years was finally shoved into the limelight Tuesday morning. The Crawford County District Advisory Council (DAC) met and discussed a number of things during its annual meeting but the biggest among them was the issue of a levy to support the Crawford County General Health District.
The health district received $386,869.53 in subsidies from the City of Bucyrus and the villages and townships in Crawford County in 2014. The City of Galion is not part of the county health district.
Health districts are often funded by levies, though there currently is not one implemented in Crawford County. Richland County has multiple levies to fund its health department while all of the counties that touch Crawford County have at least one levy to fund its own health department.
“We’re receiving tax dollars, we’re just receiving them in a different way,” explained Kate Siefert, Director of Environmental Health and Health District Administrator. “This (a levy) isn’t a decision for staff. This is a decision for you guys to consider all the good, all the bad and decide on the direction the health department’s funded.”
Siefert provided examples of millage gathered by county auditor Joan Wolfe the DAC could aim for to fund the health district. Siefert noted that should the DAC seek a levy, it wouldn’t necessarily have to fund the entire health department budget.
As an example, a 1.0-mill 10-year levy would generate $523,783.51 for the health district. For someone with a house property value of $100,000, that would amount to $35 each year.
“It’s not an easy conversation, I know,” Siefert said, “but it’s a conversation that should have been started three years ago.”
Siefert said even if they chose to fund the health department 100 percent with a levy, it would still have to budget correctly over that 10-year period. She explained it was a lot like looking into a crystal ball as they tried to determine a variety of factors that could impact their budget.
The levy would take the burden from the already overstressed townships and place it on the residents in the county, excluding Galion.
“I don’t think we could be comfortable asking for a more than a 1.0-mill,” Siefert said, “and we would have to live with that and recognize that if we want more funding we would have to go chase it ourselves. It’s just because I know our county.”
“If we don’t do something, we won’t have any townships to pay you anything. It’s going to be a whole different ball game,” said Patricia Ronbon, a representative from Polk Township. “They can’t keep taking that much and keep taking. I think this has to be taken very seriously and as soon as possible.”
“I don’t know whether a levy is a right thing to do or a wrong thing to do,” said Polk Township representative Glenn Cheesman. “I think what you’ve got is a bunch of townships with their back to the wall and it’s not only the health department we’re looking at. We’re looking at everything.”
County commissioner Steve Reinhart stated he would not support a 1.0-mill levy for the health department.
“We’re $3 million out of the General Fund now on other issues we think we need to run levies for. You’ve got school districts that are going to run levies and so, for us to go out and ask for $523,000 because we think we’re going to need it in the future – I guess I wouldn’t support that,” Reinhart said.
He argued later that the subject of a possible levy should be discussed even further.
After a show of majority support for the consideration of a levy, a committee was formed to review the levy options available or whether a recommendation should be made not to seek a levy. That committee was made of Underwood, Bucyrus Mayor Jeff Reser, and Patricia Rondon, Eunice Collene, and Carl Rader as township representatives. That committee will meet between now and April 6 to discuss the possibilities of a levy. The committee will bring its recommendation to a special DAC meeting scheduled for 9 a.m. on April 6.
The DAC currently faces an Aug. 5 deadline if it wishes to put a levy on the ballot for the November election. It would cost the health department $15,000 to $20,000 to put the issue on the ballot.
Siefert announced that Tom Hollinger is no longer serving as the county’s health commissioner. Hollinger had been shared by agreement between Crawford and Huron counties since June before returning fulltime to Huron County in December.
Currently, Dr. Chris Johnson, the son of County Coroner Dr. Michael Johnson, has taken over the role of health commissioner on a part-time basis. Siefert has been appointed as a fulltime administrator and has taken care of the day-to-day operations.
Siefert noted that the county is currently on track to become accredited by 2020, as required by the state, despite the recent changes the health district has faced.
“We definitely want to be moving ahead,” Siefert said. “We don’t want to be left behind; we don’t want to be the only small health department in Ohio that’s not accredited.”
“Health departments should be focusing their programs and focusing their priorities on what their community needs. We can’t do what Delaware needs; we can’t do what Wyandot needs; we can’t do what Huron County needs,” added Siefer. “We have to do what Crawford County needs.”
The District Advisory Council also reorganized during the meeting. Milton Underwood was voted in again as chairperson for the DAC while Eunice Collene volunteered to serve as secretary. Bill Scott was reappointed to serve on the Crawford County Board of Health and Bob Nigh volunteered to serve on the District Licensing Council as part of the Septic Program vacancy. That terms will expire March 2017.
The council approved a set of bylaws for the DAC.
“Bylaws should have been put in place 30 days after you guys originally formed a little over a decade ago,” explained Siefert. “It’s just one of those things that need to be put in place.”
The DAC also approve a resolution that would give emergency quarantine and isolation authority to the health commissioner.
The DAC made a motion to change the health district name from the Crawford County General Health District to Crawford County Public Health. Siefert said the name change, suggested by the Crawford County Board of Health, clears up what the department represents.