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Portage Health Department seeks levy OK: Would raise $1.1 million per year for programs, services
October 28, 2009
By Mike Sever
Record-Courier staff writer
The Portage County Health Department is seeking voter approval of Issue 5, a 0.4-mill, additional five year levy for current expenses.
The levy would raise $1.1 million per year to be used to restore programs and administrative services.
Declining revenues from inspection fees and licenses have forced the health department to cut services to state-mandated minimums.
Surrounding health departments have already assumed some local programs the county department has been unable to staff.
The district has not had a levy change since 1955, when the current 0.4-mill levy was enacted. Since then, a levy has appeared on the ballot more than 30 additional times. All attempts for an additional levy failed at the ballot box.
The district serves all of the county except for Kent and Ravenna, which have their own health departments. The county department gets no tax revenues from those cities.
The current, 0.4-mill levy raises about $237,000 toward the district’s $2 million annual operating budget. Portage County’s health department budget is the smallest of eight surrounding counties, with the smallest operating budget of a department of its size.
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