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Butler County Board of Developmental Disabilities asks voters for 2-mill levy after declaring fiscal emergency
Summary
A Butler County Board of Developmental Disabilities representative told Fairfield Township trustees the board declared a fiscal emergency last fall and is asking voters to approve a 2-mill continuing levy on the May ballot that she said would generate $26,447,000; trustees pressed for clarity on the federal/state funding split during a lengthy presentation and Q&A.
Patricia Lupienzi, representing the Butler County Board of Developmental Disabilities, told Fairfield Township trustees on April 14 that the board has declared a fiscal emergency and is asking voters to approve a new 2-mill continuing levy on the May ballot. "Without any additional revenues, there is no other solution," Lupienzi said, adding that her board has enacted cost-saving measures—including paused raises, reduced hours and paused promotions—that produced about $3.7 million in savings so far.
Lupienzi outlined the board's mission to keep people with developmental disabilities in their communities and summarized services that range from early intervention for children to employment supports for adults. She said waiver-funded services are a major driver of expenses: "Our projected expense for 2026 consumes 97.5% of our levy-funded revenues," she said, and the proposed 2-mill levy would generate "26 million 447,000." She gave the example that on a house valued at $100,000 the new levy would cost roughly $70 a year.
Trustees pressed staff for details about the board's funding mix. Lupienzi described the federal/state/local flow for waiver funding: providers bill the state, the state uses federal funds and invoices the county for the 40% local match. "The 60% would never show up as revenue for us," she said, explaining why county revenue charts can appear to undercount total program spending. Board members asked for more precise figures about the total program cost; Lupienzi offered to retrieve detailed federal/state totals and return with the numbers.
Trustees and the presenter also discussed service priorities, noting that early intervention services are not mandated and therefore could be cut if the levy fails. Lupienzi cautioned that additional reductions could be deep without new revenue. "We've cut everything possible," she said, adding that the board enacted staffing and program reductions only after exhausting other options.
The presentation closed with trustees thanking the presenter. No formal action on the levy was taken by the township board; staff said they would provide additional detailed figures about federal funding flows at a later date.
