MOUNT VERNON – A levy deemed “vital” to the future of Knox County Children Services failed by a 2-1 margin Tuesday, in a special election that saw Knox County’s lowest voter turnout since 2017.
Roughly two-thirds of voters (2,574) rejected Knox County Children Services’ additional 1-mill property tax, while one-third (1,275) approved it, according to final, unofficial vote totals from the Knox County Board of Elections.
The levy was needed to help fund rising child placement costs, according to Knox County Job & Family Services Director Matthew Kurtz, in the department’s continued effort to care for families in crisis.
“We knew it was going to be a bit of a long shot because (we expected) a low voter turnout. In many precincts, it was the only thing on the ballot …” Kurtz said Tuesday night of the levy. “But we really are at a financial point where we at least needed to try.”
Knox County Children Services has reported a substantial increase in cases over the last year. While the drug addiction crisis has accounted for more than half of these cases, domestic violence and gross neglect have also contributed to the number of children in the county’s care.
“The complexity and intensity of issues that consistently challenge the families that we advocate for has increased dramatically within the last 12 months,” KCDJFS Assistant Director Scott Boone said in a statement this winter.
“We are regularly coming into contact with parents, caregivers, and children that are significantly affected by not one but multiple menacing conditions including, but not limited to: family violence, substance abuse, mental illness, homelessness, poverty, and lack of education, as well as debilitating physical and developmental afflictions.”
As the county’s caseload has increased, so have service costs. This led Knox County Children Services to place the levy on the ballot this spring. It would have generated $1.654 million each year for 10 years, costing taxpayers $35 annually on a $100,000 home.
Now, with the levy having failed, Knox County Children Services will need to regroup. Kurtz believes the department won’t need the additional funding until 2022, which would give it another opportunity to pass the levy in November, pending approval from the county commissioners.
Kurtz considered this approval likely, given the circumstances.
“The fact is that the children we serve are wards of the county, and the cost isn’t going to go anywhere,” Kurtz said. “We’re gonna have to ask the county commissioners to put it on the ballot again and we’ll see how they decide. Because if we don’t pay the bills this way, it has to come out of the county’s general fund, and that puts stress on other departments. That’s why we’re seeking this.”
In the meantime, Kurtz said the department will use this election cycle as a “learning experience.” If the levy ends up on the ballot again in November, Kurtz said, the department will have a better idea of who to reach and how.
“This will kind of inform us as to where we need to concentrate …” Kurtz said. “It gives us information about where our strengths and our weaknesses are in our story.”
It may also be easier to reach voters in the fall, Kurtz said, given the trajectory of the pandemic. Knox County Children Services could not do its typical pre-election voter outreach this spring, Kurtz said, as the pandemic prevented in-person speaking engagements and door-to-door canvassing.
“We understood that with this being a new levy, it was going to need a lot of explanation (to the public), and that was difficult to do with COVID and with all the precautions still in place …” Kurtz said.
“I think COVID will be better in the fall, and we may have a better chance to engage the public and excite them, to get them out (to vote). I think a lot of this goes back to the turnout. But we had to give it a try.”
Three Ohio counties had new tax requests for Children Services on the ballot Tuesday, according to the Public Children Services Association of Ohio. Knox County’s levy was the only one that did not pass.
LOW TURNOUT: The Children Services levy was the only countywide issue on Tuesday’s ballot. Kim Horn, Director of the Knox County Board of Elections, believes this may have contributed to the low voter turnout.
Just 9.25 percent of Knox County’s registered voters cast a ballot this election cycle, marking the county’s lowest turnout since the May 2, 2017 special election, which yielded 9.04 percent.
Nearly 75 percent of the county’s registered voters cast a ballot in last November’s presidential election.
“There wasn’t a lot on the ballot with only one countywide issue, and it’s an off-year after the presidential election,” Horn explained. “Everybody was excited for that one, but this one either didn’t generate that same excitement. A lot of people weren’t even aware of it.”
Sixty of Ohio’s 88 counties held special or primary elections Tuesday. Knox County’s voter turnout appeared middle-of-the-road regionally – higher than Coshocton County (2.4 percent) and Richland County (4.8 percent), but lower than Licking County (13.2 percent) and Delaware County (17.2 percent).
OTHER ISSUES: The Children Services levy wasn’t the only issue on the ballot.
Knox County voters also passed the Eastern Knox County Joint Fire District’s levy by a wide margin, with 661 votes for the levy and 259 against it. The 5-mill, four-year replacement property tax levy will cost residents $175 annually on a $100,000 home. It is expected to generate $2.2 million per year for continued fire and EMS services.
“We’re very excited about the passage of the levy. We’ve always had good support from our community and the township trustees, and we will utilize this money to continue to grow …” Chief Larry Stimpert said Tuesday night.
“I can’t stress enough the support we get from the community, it’s excellent.”
Pleasant Township’s additional 1-mill property tax levy failed, with 89 votes for the tax and 103 against it. The four-year levy was expected to raise $62,000 annually for fire protection and emergency medical services.
North Fork Local Schools’ renewal income tax levy failed in Knox County, 175 votes to 103, but succeeded in Licking County, 312 votes to 194. It therefore passed by a total of 415 votes to 369.
The levy will renew the school district’s 1-percent income tax for the next three years, and is expected to generate $2.157 million during that time. All funds will be used to cover current operating expenses.
All local election results are considered unofficial until certified by the Knox County Board of Elections. The BOE will meet on May 20 to do so. Click here for full, unofficial results.
