Seniors would gain from levy in Mahoning County

Of the 88 counties in Ohio, 73 have a tax dedicated to funding services for senior citizens. Mahoning County isn’t one of them.

Indeed, in the tri-county area, Trumbull and Columbiana counties have senior levies on the books. Last month, Trumbull County voters overwhelmingly approved a second five-year renewal of a 0.75-mill property tax that generates $2.3 million a year.

In Columbiana County, voters passed a 0.5-mill, five-year additional levy for senior citizens that will generate $798,200 a year. The vote was 15,052 to 13,853.

Against that backdrop, residents of Mahoning County are being asked to approve a 1-mill, five-year real-estate levy that would be used to serve the growing number of senior citizens.

Commissioners Anthony Traficanti, Carol Rimedio-Righetti and David Ditzler adopted a resolution Dec. 10 to place the measure on the March 15 primary election ballot.

As Traficanti so aptly put it (in this season of giving), “To me, that levy shows compassion, and we are a compassionate community. We’re a benevolent community.”

The fact that Mahoning County is one of a handful in the state that does not have a senior levy is not lost on long-time leaders of our community.

“We have to keep up with our neighbors and friends across the state, and we’re one of the few major counties that do not have this kind of a program in place,” said the Valley’s elder statesman Harry Meshel, who served as president of the Ohio Senate during his long tenure in the General Assembly.

The proposed 1-mill levy would provide services to people age 60 and up and would fill some gaps in what is now being provided. It would generate $4.1 million a year.

“We have waiting lists every day for people that need services,” said Joseph Rossi, executive director for the Area Agency on Aging 11. “The senior levy in Mahoning County would ensure that the needs of these residents can be met and they can remain in the community, where they want to be.”

Personal care assistance

The proceeds from the tax would be a godsend to the 310 seniors now on a waiting list to receive personal care assistance with bathing, dressing and toileting; another 300 are on the waiting list for home repair and modification.

Of importance to the voters of the county is what the additional levy would mean to their property tax bills. In simple terms, the owner of a $100,000 home would pay about $36 a year.

The revenue from the senior levy would be segregated from Mahoning County’s general fund, and would be administered by the Agency on Aging. Rossi said the administrative and oversight fee would not exceed 5 percent of collections and could even be less, depending on where the administrative staff is located.

Audrey Tillis, the county’s budget director, said that if the levy passes, the county-owned Oakhill Renaissance Place complex would meet the agency’s need for office space.

Commissioners Traficanti, Rimedio-Righetti and Ditzler, along with individuals who have long been advocates for the area’s senior citizens, have two-and-a-half months to make the case for the levy.

It should not be a difficult assignment, given the demographic realities of Mahoning County.

Currently, 27 percent of the population of 229,484 is over 60; in five years, the percentage is expected to rise to 31 percent; in 10 years, seniors will comprise 33 percent of the population; and in 2030, the number will rise to 34 percent.

The public-policy implications are obvious. It is also noteworthy that many senior citizens are struggling to get by, which is why the services provided by the Agency on Aging and others are so important.

It is also why a majority of the counties in Ohio have special taxes dedicated to senior services.

“There were 22 ballot initiatives this year for senior services, and all 22 won,” Rossi said.

“The population of Mahoning County is aging,” said Commissioner Rimedio-Righetti. “I think this helps those people that fall between the cracks.”

In the end, the levy is about helping seniors maintain their dignity by enabling them to live in their own homes and be as independent as possible.