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Butler County social service levies pass in unofficial results

Hamilton Journal News - 11/4/2020

Nov. 4--Butler County mental health and elderly services levies received strong support from voters on Tuesday, with both levies passing handily as of 11 p.m.

The Mental Health and Addiction Recovery Services Board (MHARS) and Council on Aging of Southwest Ohio both had renewal levies on the ballot. Unofficial vote totals showed voters supported the MHARS board levy by 73% to 27%

MHARS Executive Director Scott Rasmus said he was encouraged by the results.

"I'm very positive and optimistic, everything is looking very good with the results so far," Rasmus said. "Obviously can't wait to get the final numbers which is going to take some time. But I'm very thankful we're off to this very good start. Very appreciative so far Butler County resident and their recognition of the priority of mental health and addiction issues."

Unofficial vote totals gave the Elderly Services Program a big win by a 77% to 23% margin.

Suzanne Burke, president and CEO of the Council on Aging, said this levy was especially crucial during the coronavirus pandemic.

"We're grateful to the voters for supporting it again," she said. "This levy really supports the entire community, not just seniors but also families. We're thankful for that as the seniors continue to get the services and families continue to be able to get the support that they need."

There are 256,930 registered voters and with two hours left for in-person voting on Tuesday BOE Director Diane Noonan reported they were already at 70.53% voter turnout. In 2016 the final voter turnout was 71.05% and 71.32% in 2012.

These results are expected to change as more ballots are counted through Nov. 18. We will continue to update these results as more ballots are counted.

Neither measure will increase taxes, officials said. The 1.3-mill Elderly Services Program levy costs $42 annually per $100,000 in property valuation and brings in $10 million. The cost for the 1-mill mental health and addiction services is $32 annually and garners $7.5 million.

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