Butler County Commissioners announce state funds, hear report on levy
One Butler County board officially requested to add a levy for mental health, addiction and recovery services to the November ballot at the Butler County Commissioners meeting Monday. The commissioners also recognized the Board of Elections for its success and approved ARPA funding.
Butler County will receive more than $20 million from the Ohio state legislature for the next two years, according to the Butler County Board of Commissioners meeting July 1.
State legislature passed a one-time Strategic Community Investment Fund through the biennial budget in February 2024. Out of the more than $700 million invested into Ohio, Butler County received $19 million for developmental projects.
The county also gets $2.6 million from the state's capital budget for various projects in Fairfield, Miami University, the Voice of America Metro Park Museum, Middletown and more.
Following the state legislature update, the commissioners recognized the Butler County Board of Elections for its 2024 Ohio Board of Elections of the Year award.
Commissioner Donald Dixon said the board has shown exemplary commitment to its voter services including secure voter registration systems, efficient absentee ballot processing and transparent electronic voting.
Nicole Unzicker, Board of Elections director, and Eric Corbin, deputy board director said a few words to the chamber and commissioners thanking them for the support the board has given as well as the resources.
"I definitely wanted to make sure that we thank our wonderful bipartisan staff at the at the Board of Elections because without them," Unzicker said, "we couldn't do what we do with a big team, and it takes a lot of working parts to make those elections successful."
Afterwards, Erik Balster, the health commissioner for the Butler County general health district, presented the Butler County Community Health Improvement Plan to the board.
Balster said the plan is part of an ongoing process between the City of Hamilton and the City of Middletown's health departments, as well as the state health department. It outlines the steps being taken to improve mental health and addiction, chronic diseases and maternal and infant health in Butler County in the next three years.
It's a living plan that can be updated or tweaked as needed, he said. Using a benchmark of looking at what has been done combined with what improvements can be made helps better serve the public.
"We're really excited to kind of refocus our attention on a lot of areas that we as a society really weren't able to address fully in 2020 to 2023 even due to the result of the pandemic," Balster said. "But I view this as kind of wiping the slate clean and starting over and addressing the problems that are either a fallout of the pandemic or things that, you know, we've been dealing with and hopefully it grows."
At the June 10 meeting, Scott Rasmus, the executive director of the Butler County Mental Health and Addiction Recovery Services Board (BCMHARSB), presented the necessity of having an additional tax levy for the operation of mental health addiction and recovery services.
The first step in a two step process for the commissioners to consider putting something on the ballot is declaring necessity and asking the auditor to certify the matters, including the amount of funds estimated to be generated based on the levy amount.
Board Administrator Judi Boyko said the BCMHARSB is officially requesting the levy be put on the 2024 November ballot.
The board of commissioners accepted the report.
The board also approved funding through the American Rescue Plan of $150,000 for Fairfield Township to install playground equipment and additional fencing and seating at Milton Street Park.
The next weekly meeting will be held at 9:30 a.m. July 8 in the Butler County Government Services building, 315 High St.
