ADAMH Proposed Levy

Executive Summary

As the taxing authority for Franklin County, the Board of Commissioners (BOC) is responsible for placing a levy request on the ballot. In February 2025, the Alcohol, Drug and Mental Health (ADAMH) Board of Franklin County submitted a request to place a levy on the November General Election ballot, before collection of its existing 2.85 mill levy expires at the end of 2026. Commissioner Erica C. Crawley, BOC President, asked the Human Services Levy Review Committee (HSLRC) to review the request and make its recommendations.

Levy Request

The ADAMH request was for a renewal of the existing 2.85 mill levy expiring on December 31, 2026, with a 0.75 mill increase, for a 10-year period. The requested tax would cost $77.66/year for every $100,000 of home valuation. This represents an increase of $26.25/year over the current tax. ADAMH is proposing that the levy will allow the agency to:

• Open the newly constructed Franklin County Crisis Care Center and fully implement behavioral health urgent care, crisis stabilization, and inpatient care.
• Maintain service delivery without disruption because costs are outpacing the modest increase in levy revenue from new construction.
• Account for increased expenditures caused by demand for services, inflation, and population growth.
• Continue to support the Franklin County Probate Court’s Guardianship Service Board, which serves approximately 500 clients per year.
• Fund new initiatives or expand current programs related to areas such as workforce development, mobile crisis, and housing

Levy Recommendation

The HSLRC conducted a thorough review of the operational and programmatic aspects of the agency, analyzed the current and future need for services, and performed an in-depth financial analysis. Based on its review, the Committee recommends that the BOC place a 10-year, 2.85 mill renewal levy with a 0.5 mill increase on the ballot. The recommended tax would be $68.91 for every $100,000 of home valuation, to support behavioral health services, which is an increase of $17.50 over the current tax. The recommendation is supported by the following:

• The Committee recognizes that a straight renewal will not be sufficient to sustain operations and fully fund the new Crisis Care Center. While ADAMH has done well to maximize revenue sources and prioritize cost effective initiatives, the cost of services is increasing at a faster pace than revenue. The Committee’s lower millage increase is based on a recommendation that ADAMH focus on a successful opening of the Crisis Care Center and decrease the projected growth rate within Social Services from 3.5%/year to 2.5%/year. With the recent reappraisal process resulting in property values increasing by 40%, and with other requests for additional funding on the ballot, the Committee is hesitant to recommend a levy that could be seen as too large.

• The Committee supports the request for a 10-year levy duration to enable ADAMH to maintain funding stability in a challenging and unpredictable funding environment. Although the HSLRC did recommend a 5-year levy in 2020 because of the uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Committee felt it was prudent to provide stable funding with this levy, rather than require ADAMH to go back on the ballot early when the community may not be in a better position to address the impact of federal funding reductions.

In addition to the levy recommendation, the HSLRC has included operational and programmatic recommendations to ADAMH as part of the levy review:

• Implement cost savings and efficiencies to reduce the burden on levy resources.
• Continue to advocate for higher facility-based crisis Medicaid reimbursement and maximize existing and additional revenue opportunities.
• Provide an update to the Committee on the implementation of the Crisis Care Center and its impact at the next ADAMH mid-levy review.