Commissioners hear proposals for 3 renewal levies in November

Lorain County commissioners will decide over the next two weeks if voters will see three proposed, county-wide renewal levies on the November ballot. Commissioner Matt Lundy, a Democrat, said the board would make a final determination in the coming two weeks. He and fellow Commissioner David Moore, a Republican, heard three presentations Wednesday by mental health and addiction care providers, Lorain County Sheriff's Office officials and the county's 911 director. Commissioner Michelle Hung, a Republican, was excused from Wednesday's meeting due to a family matter. All three proposed levies are five-year levies. MHARS levy A 0.6-mill levy that brings in an estimated $3.9 million for mental health and addiction recovery services in Lorain County expires in December. Mental Health, Addiction and Recovery Services Board Executive Director Michael Doud said he will bring the matter of the levy renewal to his board for a vote at its meeting Tuesday (June 28). The levy accounts for about 21 percent of MHARS' annual revenue, he said, and allows the board's provider network "to improve the health and well-being of our community." The levy funds the MHARS board's services and its many partner agencies. Together they provide drug abuse prevention, outreach and engagement; crisis care; residential recovery housing, sober and in-patient living; medically-managed addiction treatment; harm reduction services; support the county's specialized court dockets; and provide psychiatric care for the indigent and uninsured, Doud said, among many other services. There is a great need for them, too, he said: - Nonfatal drug overdoses in Lorain County totaled 463 in 2021, Doud said. Lorain County is on track to exceed that this year, he said. - About 700 adults needing detox from alcohol or drugs were sent outside the county last year because there is no detox center for them in Lorain County. MHARS and its partners are in the process of building a multimillion-dollar 24/7 crisis and receiving center in Lorain with millions in local and state, public and private funding. - Suicide rates among young African American males, young adults and minority populations are up, Doud said. Jeff Kamms, executive director and co-founder of Road to Hope, said MHARS board dollars helped his agency house 482 people in recovery. Two-thirds of them were homeless when they came to Road To Hope. That's more than 300 people "who would have been wandering the streets" who successfully graduated to permanent housing, he said. Of those, 90 percent had jobs when they left and became "an asset to the community as opposed to being a burden to the community," Kamms said. Dan Haight, president and CEO of The LCADA Way, said treatment by LCADA Way is mostly funded through Medicaid, but room and board are not. The agency has spent $90,000 for uncompensated care so far this year, he said. The levy boosts insurance-supported services which sometimes have "outrageous" co-pays clients can't afford, Haight said. Addiction is "a disease, not a choice," Lundy said. It and mental illness "do come together and we need to address them in that way," he said. The economy and the community benefit when healthy people are able to go to work and support their families, Lundy added. Drug Task Force Sheriff's Major Don Barker, commander of the Lorain County Drug Task Force, said a 0.08-mill criminal justice levy provides $556,000 or about half the task force's annual $1 million budget. The drug task force gets the rest of its funding from a levy it shares with the Lorain County Crime/Drug Lab and from competitive grants. There are 43 regional or county task forces in Ohio all vying for those grant dollars, he said. The task force works with other local police, the Drug Enforcement Administration, FBI and Homeland Security Investigations on large-scale drug trafficking investigations. Fentanyl overdoses are up, and the synthetic opioid is being found in "almost every compound of drugs we're seizing" including in pressed pills being sold on the street as the painkiller Percocet or the anti-anxiety drug Xanax, Barker said. There have been 52 fatal drug overdoses in Lorain County so far in 2022 as of Wednesday, Barker said. Five of those were people ages 15-24; nine were from ages 25-34; 12 from ages 35-44; 11 from ages 45-54; 12 from ages 55-64; and three over the age 65, he said. The drug task force also does anti-drug education and takes part in a Quick Response Team initiative where officers and social services representatives visit people within 72 hours of a non-fatal overdose to offer them recovery options. The Drug Task Force levy also supports the Lorain County SWAT Team, and SWAT Team commander Chief Deputy Dennis Cavanaugh said it would "be hard to survive" without the levy. Lorain County 911 Director Jeff Young told commissioners the existing 0.5-mill levy provides 90 percent of the agency's budget. Phone and cellular fees collected by the state make up the rest. Every 911 call made in Lorain County goes through the dispatch center on Burns Road in Elyria, for a total of 361,000 calls in 2021 or just short of 1,000 per day. The agency takes calls for service for 26 different fire departments and EMS services and seven police departments. Commissioners had considered increasing the levy to 0.75 mill, but Young said it is a "scary time" to ask for more money and that he could learn to work within his budget whatever the commissioners decide. "I think we do well with the funds that we do bring in," he said. "It's my charge to operate within the budget you guys give me. It's just that simple." With the election only four months away, Young said he could bring commissioners a plan within a week. "I pledge to you that no matter what you decide, I'll manage it the best way I can," he said. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com or on Twitter @daveobrienCT.