BY ANNE MICHAUD
The Cincinnati Enquirer
A mental health levy for the fall ballot will be a year shorter and $1.8 million lower than the Hamilton County Community Mental Health Board had estimated is necessary.
The county's Tax Levy Review Committee voted Thursday to place the levy on the ballot for a 4-year term at $26.4 million a year. The amount is 32 percent more than the mental health board currently receives from local property taxes.
The board channels money to more than 50 local agencies that serve about 18,000 people each year who cannot afford to pay.
The board was plagued by scandal but has new leadership. Tax committee members said they want to keep a close watch to make sure improvements continue. They also wanted to force some economies on the agency and make the levy palatable to voters.
The mental health board's executive director, Patrick Tribbe, observed the tax committee's debate. He said he could live with the 4-year term instead of five years. He fought the funding reduction until the last of the two hours of discussion. He had requested $28.2 million annually.
"This is what I need to manage the system and manage it well," he said, adding that he resisted pressure to pad the request so the tax committee could lop off a token amount to appear tough on tax increases.
The committee voted 5-3 to trim the request, and 6-2 for the 4-year term. The recommendation will go before county commissioners, who can place it on the November ballot.
Committee members argued that the 41 percent increase Mr. Tribbe and his board had proposed would be too much for voters.
"There's still a very bad impression out there about the mental health board," said committee member Dolly Kohls.
The board passed its last, three-year levy in 1995. The following year, the board's executive director resigned during an investigation into a hidden bank account and a $160,000-plus loss on a professional conference.
Two years earlier, in 1994, the board was discovered hoarding $32 million in cash while more than 400 adults and children languished on waiting lists.
Mr. Tribbe was hired in March 1997. Board membership has turned over almost completely and many staff members are new. The agency argues that it has repaired problems and is heading in the right direction.
Tax committee members agreed the board has made significant improvements.
The current tax levy, which raises $20 million a year, costs the owner of a $100,000 home $36.60 in property taxes annually. The tax rate per home has not been calculated for the proposed new levy.
