Sharon Woodrow, Superintendent

P. O. Box 156

Batavia, OH 45103

(513) 732-4890 (office)

(513) 732-7006 (fax)

swoodrow@clermontdd.org

Linda Constable, Administrative Assistant

(513) 732-5027

lconstable@clermontdd.org

The Superintedent's Office is located at the Thomas A. Wildey Center,

2040 US Highway 50,Batavia, OH 45103 (one mile west of Owensville).

In February the Clermont Board of DD made a motion to request that the County Commissioners put a .9 mil Replacement Levy on the ballot on May 4, 2010.  This decision was made after much deliberation and careful review of our financial situation.  We acknowledge that these are difficult economic times and people are stretched financially.  We would not ask for any more than continued renewals of our operating levies if we were not experiencing reductions in other revenue.  Due to Ohio’s fiscal situation, we have experienced cuts to our state revenue – revenue that has supported our services for many years.  Additionally, Tangible Personal Property Tax, local tax dollars that we have also been getting for years, has been phased out and its replacement, Commercial Activity Tax, is not predicted to be available long term.  Therefore, Clermont DD is currently operating on less money than we have had in the past, while serving more people with Developmental Disabilities every year.  Furthermore, this revenue is expected to continue to decline.  More people needing us and less money available to provide for those needs are going to put our agency in serious trouble.

Prudent planning and careful restructure of services and personnel have allowed us to avoid asking for replacement dollars for many years.  This board has taken many cost cutting measures and continues to plan strategically around diminished resources and increased needs.  Positions are being evaluated every time someone leaves positions have been abolished and combined,  and in many cases work has been distributed and people have not been replaced.  In that way we are like many other businesses in this community that has experienced financial reverses.

However,  currently there are over 400 individuals waiting for some kind of service through our agency, even though we c currently serve over 1000 people annually.  And, the waiting lists grow every month.  For families with babies born with developmental delays, or children with behavioral or medical challenges, our agency being available for them is critical.  And, for parents who are aging or who are taking care of adults who also have intensive behavioral or medical needs, our waiting lists seem endless and frightening.  We want very much to be able to help, but to do that we need this community’s support

A .9 mil levy was passed by the Clermont community in 1982.  The dollars generated by this levy have considerably reduced over these 28 years.  A replacement of this levy will make a dramatic difference for people with disabilities in our community, while only costing  the taxpayers an additional $22.00 a year.  While no one wants to pay even a penny more of taxes, especially during these times, for the price of one postage stamp per week, families and individuals with developmental disabilities will have some of their needs met.  We hope that you will be able to support this.

On March 18th we will be holding an evening coffee with the Superintendent at 7:00 pm.  Come have coffee or tea and some cookies and ask your questions and give us your input.  It is important that we get an opportunity to speak to anyone who may not understand our needs and why we are asking for this levy. 

It is a pretty small cost which will produce some pretty large outcomes for people with developmental disabilities.  We hope you’ll agree.