Mahoning Co. Mental Health Board to seek passage of replacement levy

YOUNGSTOWN -- The Mahoning County Mental Health Board will seek voter approval for a five-year, 0.85-mill replacement levy in November.
Ron Marian, mental-health board executive director, said the levy, which expires at the end of 2005, generates about $1.7 million a year. The replacement levy, reflecting the increase in property values since the levy was first passed in 1976, would bring in an additional $1.2 million a year.
The agency is also partially funded by a .50-mill levy, which generates about $900,000 a year. The board's total budget for fiscal 2002-03 is about $11 million.
The increase is needed to offset cuts in state and federal funding and the rising cost of providing services, Marian said.
The board helps fund numerous mental health services and programs in the community that serve the uninsured working poor such as Turning Point Counseling Services and Help Hotline Crisis Center.
Dr. Michael Hogan, director of the Ohio Department of Mental Health, praised the local board and its contract agencies for the good job they are doing, noting that Mahoning County is in on the first round of federal funding for a local mental-health court.