Franklin County Children Services cites rising placement costs and asks for a tax levy

Franklin County Children Services is seeking more funding with a property tax levy on the November ballot as the agency reports rising costs for child placement.

The agency is asking voters to approve two things with one question: renew an existing 1.9 million factories and approve an increase of 0.6 million. If the law passes, property owners would pay about $21 more per year for every $100,000 of assessed value. Currently, approximately $28 per $100,000 of value is collected from this tax on owner-occupied homes.

This is one of two levies that fund Franklin County Children Services. The other, a 3.1 million euro levy with a ten-year term, was renewed by voters in 2019 and generates $84.53 per year per $100,000 of property value.

Scott Varner, a spokesman for Franklin County Children Services, said the tax increase is necessary because while the number of children in custody has decreased, placement costs have increased 24% over the past three years. Varner said an increasing number of children in custody, about one in four, have complex problems, including mental illness, developmental disabilities, or are involved in the juvenile justice system.

If the agency needs to take in a child, they will likely remain in custody for more than a year and a half, Varner said, which is a 60% increase from a decade ago.

The language on the ballot calls for the tax “for the purpose of protecting abused and neglected children and providing services to abused and neglected children and their families…”

Each year, the agency helps more than 26,000 children and their families, Varner said.

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FCCS’s annual budget is approximately $225 million and the proposed levy increase would generate approximately $31 million in additional funds.

With this levy request, Varner said the agency has identified three initiatives they could fund:

• Invest in kinship support. Children who cannot live with their parents do better when placed with a relative and FCCS could invest in additional kinship support, including higher allowances.

• Invest in caseworkers to retain them. When a child’s case worker changes, the child may remain in custody longer.

• Invest an additional $1 million each year in community-based prevention programs that address the challenges facing healthcare providers and the youth mental health crisis.

A new website from the Franklin County Auditor tells you how much a property tax levy on your ballot would cost based on the value of your property. You can type your address into audr-apps.franklincountyohio.gov/LevyEstimator.

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This article originally appeared in The Columbus Dispatch: Franklin County Children Services has a property tax levy on the ballot