The Hamilton County Developmental Disabilities Services (DDS) levy is projected to need an increase before the end of its current cycle in 2029. An annual review by the Tax Levy Review Committee shows the cost of services the agency is required to provide will exceed what its levy generates in 2028.
"What we've seen recently is a significant increase in the cost of the DDS mandated services," committee member Eric Landen told county commissioners Tuesday.
That echoes concerns raised earlier this year by Hamilton County Developmental Disabilities Services Superintendent Leia Snyder in a statement. "The cost of Medicaid waivers that fund supports in the community is rising quickly, and our funding has not kept pace."
The DDS levy has brought in a flat annual amount of around $79 million since 2010. The agency was able to build up its reserve fund balance in 2023 thanks to federal funding related to the COVID-19 pandemic and a decrease in the need for services at that time. Landen says those numbers started to change in 2024.
"We saw an inflection point where that enhanced federal funding was scaled back, and we also saw state regulations significantly increase (costs)," Landen says. "In addition to that, we saw an increasing number of people who were requiring those services. Therefore, in 2025 and beyond, what we're seeing is a higher per-person cost, higher waiver costs, and state pressures in terms of them requiring these mandates but not providing the support for these services. The result of all that is we are seeing a significant reduction in that fund balance that was quite healthy at the beginning of 2025, and now we're seeing that being eaten away."
The fund is projected to be nearly $2.3 million in the red in 2028 and $42.2 million in 2029.
"The bottom line on this is we anticipate that DDS will need to go on the ballot in November 2028 instead of November 2029, and we do anticipate that DDS will likely need an increase in their millage at that point," Landen concluded, adding that how much of an increase would be needed hasn't been calculated.
Landen and Snyder say DDS has made cuts to staffing, services, and discretionary spending, as well as increasing what it charges for billable services, and is looking for other funding sources. Those cuts are projected to total $5-$9 million in annual savings. The TLRC points out many non-mandated services that may have to be cut are preventive and shown to help lower costs for mandated services down the road.
"Every single billing stream that we have available to us, we've increased, some of them up to 50%, so that includes some federal billing streams — we've been really attentive to that. We've aggressively sought out any grant revenue, and we have been successful in securing a lot of that," Snyder says.
She says DDS partners with other providers to make sure they aren't duplicating services, and it has increased tuition at the two schools it operates for students who can't be served by their home districts or require more care and services than those schools can provide.
The agency is looking to sell two properties and expects a one-time cash infusion from that.
Taxpayer burden
Developmental Disabilities Services isn't the only levy-funded agency facing looming budget deficits. County commissioners are also being asked to consider putting an increased Children's Services levy on the ballot this November. That existing levy from 2018 generates $81 million per year, but Job and Family Services (JFS) is projected to need $144 million from the levy annually to continue to provide base-level, mandated services.
The board is holding public hearings in June and July to help determine what levy amount to put before voters.
Commission members on Tuesday lamented the position of overburdened county taxpayers being asked to pay more in property taxes because of unfunded requirements from the state.
"My frustration is that we have a partner who is pushing down unfunded mandates in many different ways, (and) they're not doing what they can do by way of relief (to help), and we're the ones left with the cost," says Commissioner Denise Driehaus, noting that while the state has made some reforms, legislators didn't provide funding to pay for them.
"They didn't do anything when it comes to immediate relief to create a circuit breaker, so you only spend a certain portion of your income for property taxes. They didn't expand the homestead exemption, so more people would qualify for some relief. They didn't do what people expect them to do by way of relief, and they have the money to do it," she says.
Driehaus and Commission President Stephanie Summerow Dumas both say it's important to know about the impending budget issues at DDS despite the Children's Services levy issue currently dominating their taxpayer worries.
"The timing is difficult because I think people are feeling overwhelmed," Driehaus says. "But the flip of that is that we need to know what's going on, and we need to know what to anticipate, and we need to have all the information in front of us as early as possible, so that we can start thinking through decisions."
Commission Vice President Alicia Reece says the Children's Services levy is affecting people now, and she'd prefer to deal with the DDS issue later. She says it's confusing to people to hear about a new levy each week during commission meetings.
"'28 is a long way away, maybe the economy (is going to) recover, maybe we get a change in leadership in Washington, maybe we get something, but we can't come with a '28 plan today when people are trying to survive in 2026," she says. "If it's '28, get with me next year when we can look at something, or we can meet privately and try to work some numbers and sharpen the pencils, but (we're) on a day-to-day budget now because we don't know how the world's going to shift."
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