MANSFIELD — Richland Public Health Commissioner Julie Chaya has big plans for the health department — plans that can only take place if voters pass a renewal levy on the upcoming Nov. 7 general election ballot.
Richland Public Health (RPH) has a half-mill levy renewal on the ballot next month. As a renewal, the levy would not cost local property owners additional taxes; currently the owner of a $100,000 property pays about $17 a year.
“The levy is important not just to the health department, but to the community so we can keep providing high-quality public health services,” Chaya said.
“Whether people realize it or not, we’re here and we want to make sure that everybody has a very safe and enjoyable place to live, work and play.”
If renewed, the half-mill provision will continue to generate about $800,000 per year.
RPH has two 10-year levies totaling 1.4 mills that provide about a third of the agency’s funding. The rest comes primarily from grants and fees.
Chaya, who took over as commissioner in February, said the levy dollars primarily fund operational costs, but also help to boost programs that a grant might not fully fund.
“For instance, we have the AED program right now, where the Richland County Foundation started us off with a very generous sum of money to make sure that any youth-serving organization throughout Richland County can receive a free AED machine,” she said.
“We really want to make sure that nobody experiences a sudden cardiac arrest anywhere in our area and doesn’t have the means to provide that lifesaving resource immediately, especially in our rural areas.”
Operational costs at RPH include staff salaries, supplies and materials, and resources that are provided at little to no cost to the community.
A few examples of these services include restaurant inspections, Inkcarceration, and the upcoming solar eclipse, Chaya said.
“We’re the entity in the area that makes sure everybody is licensed and up-to-code and safe,” she said. “And because of taxpayer dollars, we’re able to keep a lot of our fees very low.”
According to Kevin VanMeter, director of fiscal operations at RPH, 10-year projections show if this year’s levy is renewed, along with the other levy up for renewal in 2025, the agency will maintain a positive cash balance until 2032.
VanMeter told Richland County Commissioners recently that his estimates were based on maintaining current staffing levels, along with 2-percent salary increases and 5-percent hikes in insurance costs.
Chaya said she’d like to increase staffing in the future, among other expansions that will bring community health services to every corner of the county.
“Just recently we received a grant from the Ohio Department of Health for a brand-new mobile health clinic,” Chaya said.
“Not everybody can always come to Mansfield for what they need, so with that mobile clinic can provide WIC services, vaccines, and community health screenings.
“I’m very aggressive at getting very large and very unique grants. I just need a little bit of extra padding to make sure that everybody in the area can participate.”
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