REGION Levies would benefit elderly

Advisory boards would be established to choose how levy money is spent.
By D.A. WILKINSONand STEPHEN SIFF
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITERS
Senior citizens in Trumbull and Mahoning counties will get more van rides, more drugs, more meals-on-wheels and more in-home care if tax levies proposed by the District XI Agency on Aging are passed, agency officials say.
Exactly how many more, and through which agencies, have not yet been determined.
"We have not decided yet," Deanna Clifford, the director of community relations for the agency on aging, said Thursday. "We know there are people out there who are not getting the services they need."
Heading for ballot
The Mahoning County commissioners took the first step Thursday toward drafting legislation for placing a 1-mill five-year levy on the March ballot for senior citizen services in the county.
The move came right after the first of two public hearings on placing a sales tax for other county services on the ballot in either March or November.
Don Medd, the executive director of the District XI Area Agency on Aging, gave the commissioners no specifics on how the money would be used.
Medd did say that the money raised in Mahoning County would be used in Mahoning County. The district also includes Trumbull, Ashtabula and Columbiana counties.
Ashtabula has a levy, and the agency is seeking a levy in Trumbull County next year, but it doesn't plan to seek one in Columbiana.
Senior population
Medd told the commissioners there are 65,000 seniors in Mahoning County. That's the highest of any urban area in the state and the third overall in the state, Medd said.
Trumbull County has one of the highest percentages of elderly residents among Ohio counties, commissioners were told Wednesday.
Mahoning County officials estimated the levy would bring in $3.8 million a year. The agency spends about $1.4 million a year in Mahoning County now.
In Trumbull County, the levy would bring in $3 million a year. The agency spends $1 million a year in Trumbull County now.
County commissioners will have the ultimate say in how the money is spent in each county, said Jack O'Connell, a member of the agency's board.
Advisory committee
The agency hopes to appoint an advisory committee in each county which, with guidance from the commissioners, will decide how the levy money is spent.
Reese said the levy might present a conflict with the sales tax for voters. But Reese said there would be no problem if the levy were presented properly to voters.
Reese said levy funds would go for transportation, meals and programs for seniors.