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Logan County District Board of Health members discussed briefly at their Wednesday afternoon meeting the possibility of placing an operating levy on the November ballot, which could provide a huge budgetary relief for the agency, but is also a difficult to consider following a string of levy failures since 2007.
Board President Bob Harrison said members will need to make a decision about the potential levy at their next meeting — which has been moved to 1 p.m. Wednesday, May 31, because of schedule conflicts — for the request to be considered in time for the November filing deadline. If the board decides to move forward with a levy request, it then has to be approved by the Logan County Commissioners.
Logan County Health Commissioner Dr. Boyd Hoddinott said he is in favor of trying for another levy, as a potential 1-mill issue would generate between $1.1 million and $1.2 million per year. That would provide an additional $500,000 to $600,000 for the agency’s current budget, as the health district presently receives inside millage totals from each of the townships and municipalities in the county.
If a health district levy is passed, the LCHD would no longer receive the inside millage funds and those entities would be relieved of the funding burden.
However, Dr. Hoddinott acknowledged that it’s a daunting task to pass a public health levy and is discouraging after all of the past attempts. The LCHD’s last levy attempt in November 2015 ballot was defeated by less than 200 votes, after members of the community stepped up to run a top-notch levy campaign, he said.
“We had a number of people in the community serving our levy committee the last time, and they did such a good job of getting the word out; it was a comprehensive and informative campaign. I just don’t know how we could do any better.
“We’ve found that public health is difficult to sell in a rural community. People often don’t know we’re here until they need us, and don’t realize all of things we do to protect their health.”
Read complete story in Thursday’s Examiner.
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