Clermont County children's services leaders ask commissioners to place renewal plus 0.2-mil increase on 2025 ballot

Dottie Meyer, director of the Clermont County Department of Job and Family Services, told the Board of County Commissioners on July 16 that rising out-of-home placement costs and declining federal reimbursement make an increased levy necessary to avoid exhausting the department's reserves before the next levy cycle ends.

Meyer said the department is recommending the board place a renewal plus a 0.2-mil increase on the ballot in November 2025. "We would ask, and we're recommending that, the board would consider the renewal plus a 0.2 increase," Meyer said. Under the proposal, the levy would appear on the Nov. 4, 2025 general-election ballot for collection beginning in 2027 and continue through 2031 if approved.

The department told commissioners the current levy cycle ends in 2026 and that the county's existing levy, originally approved as…