MOUNT VERNON — The stream of veterans coming through the doors of the Knox County Veterans Services Office on West Chestnut Street is on the rise.
VSO Executive Director Kevin Henthorne said the office averages nearly four veterans per day for appointments to file for VA benefits.
That number does not include walk-ins or those seeking help understanding an issue or with questions.
“That’s up from the last few years after the COVID fallout. We’re back up to being really busy again,” Henthorne told the county commissioners last week.
Another piece of good news is that the VSO is starting to attract younger veterans.
“A lot of the younger generation — mid-20s, 30s — they are more aggressive in seeking benefits than some of the previous generations,” Henthorne said.
“In previous years you wouldn’t see veterans until they were reaching retirement age.”
In 2025, the VSO provided financial assistance to approximately 100 Knox County veterans and widows. Assistance could be for food or utilities.
Henthorne said that federal tracking shows that in 2023, the latest year for which he has solid numbers, $19 million in federal VA money came into Knox County veterans’ pockets.
“Of course, that’s spent here,” he said. “Basically, for every dollar that goes to our budget, we put that into man-hours and filing veterans claims, that comes back into the county for $52. So a 52-to-1 bang for your buck in VA federal dollars. That’s not counting health care.”
According to Henthorne, the Knox County veteran population has severely declined.
However, Henthorne said that in 2024, disability compensation and pensions for widows totaled approximately $22 million.
“So we’re bringing in more money for the same or lesser folks,” he said.
Funding the VSO
Property tax dollars fund the VSO. Under the Ohio Revised Code, VSOs receive 0.5 mills of property tax revenue.
Henthorne said the VSO is not grant-funded and does not apply for grants or solicit donations.
“We don’t have any other funding. It’s 100% property tax. So that is very unique,” he said.
The county commissioners do not control the VSO’s money. An autonomous VSO board appointed by the common pleas judge determines how to allocate funds.
Five veterans organizations recommend the board members:
•American Legion
•Veterans of Foreign Wars
•Disabled American Veterans
•AMVETS
•Military Order of the Purple Heart of the U.S.A., the Vietnam Veterans of America, or the Korean War Veterans Association
“We have a little different mission than some of the other county offices, so we do operate sometimes a little differently. But, the county commissioners and the county auditor are still the oversight,” Henthorne said.
Henthorne said that while he hopes people see the VSO out and about, such as deploying its mobile unit to nursing homes or communities, there are also behind-the-scenes, big-ticket activities.
He cited a claim the VSO has worked on for 15 years that recently got approved for $1 million in back pay and free health care.
“Or the Camp Lejeune veteran that just got approved through the Washington Board of Veterans Appeals. I’ve been working with him for 12 years. That just got approved last week. It’s going to change his life,” Henthorne said. “You don’t see that because we can’t promote that.”
Preparing for the unknown
Henthorne said the office is “getting ahead of that curve a little bit,” given that the office’s sole funding comes from property taxes and in light of the abolish property tax movement.
The VSO implemented a soft freeze on spending several months ago. Henthorne said the VSO has already paid for many of its 2026 projects. Projects include promotional items for the Knox County Fair, as well as media and billboard advertising.
Additionally, the VSO will not fill a position vacated in December and redistributed duties among the remaining personnel.
“We’ve been growing in our services and our staff the last few years, and now we’re going to pump the brakes and see what this year brings. So that’s a significant savings in our payroll right there for a full-time person with full-time benefits,” the director said.
Henthorne said the board is also considering a policy to roll over funds from one year to the next.
“We’ve discussed many ways of retaining funds to work with any sort of veteran program that would maybe require more funding than we would get each year. Now, we may need to look at a retention fund for simple operations in case there’s a hiccup or a transition in 2027 and 2028,” he said.
Another item up for discussion is creating a budget line item for donations.
Henthorne said such a fund would allow the VSO to seek grants or other funding if its tax revenue is interrupted.