MANSFIELD — Richland County Children Services will ask voters in November to renew a 10-year, 1-mill property tax levy that generates about $2.3 million annually.
Richland County commissioners unanimously approved the agency’s request for a “resolution of necessity” during a meeting Thursday morning with RCCS Executive Director Nikki Harless and Finance Director Kevin Goshe.
Agency officials will meet with commissioners again at a later date to officially have the issue placed on the ballot.
The levy also allows the child protective service agency to “pull down” federal funding, according to Goshe, meaning the loss of the levy would mean the loss of those dollars.
As a renewal, the levy could not cost local property owners any additional taxes. The levy was first approved in 1984, Goshe said, and is due to expire at the end of 2024.
The levy was last on the ballot in 2013, when 58 percent of county voters approved it as a replacement issue. RCCS also has a second 1-mill, 10-year levy, last approved in 2018 by 59 percent of local voters.
Two of the agency’s biggest costs are salaries and the cost of placing children that come into RCCS custody. Harless and Goshe said the agency has no control over the number of children that come into care, though the number is rising.
“When we met with (Commissioner Cliff Mears) on April 18, we had 134 kids in our custody at a cost of $8,700 per day,” Goshe said. “As of this week, we’re up to 142 kids at a cost of $10,000 per day.”
Harless said, “We have no way to project, but the trend is going up consistently at this point.”
Commissioner Tony Vero asked Goshe about his five-year projections, which show a deficit of $2.3 million by the end of 2028.
RCCS began 2023 with an $8.9 million carryover, according to agency board meeting minutes from January, which is projected to decline to $6.9 million by the end of the year.
The agency’s budget, approved by its board in November, calls for revenues of $11.4 million with expenses of $13.4 million.
Goshe said his long-term projections are based on full agency employment of 97 positions and continued rising child placement costs.
“If nothing would change, that (projection) is real.
“When we did the 2023 budget in November of 2022, we were down about nine positions. Today, we are down four. If we were to fill all those jobs and keep them full for that whole time period, that’s a real number,” Goshe said.
Vero said he had looked at agency financial plans and said salary projections showing 3 percent pay increases for RCCS employees were reasonable.
“But if we’re sitting here in five years and you’re looking at a $2 million deficit, that’s gonna necessitate some pretty serious conversations,” Vero said.
“I understand they’re projections, so I’m not gonna hold you to what you say now if we’re all here five years from now. But you feel that’s a pretty solid projection of $2 million deficit?” Vero asked.
Goshe said, “Yes, if we were to fill 97 positions and keep them filled 100 percent through the five years, that’s going to happen.”
Harless said the agency “has not been able to keep all positions filled for a long time.”
Goshe said RCCS averaged about eight vacant positions from 2013 to 2022, which translated into about $3.2 million in saved salaries, not including retirement system contributions and other health-related benefits.
“So it could have been a whole lot worse,” Goshe said.
In 2022, RCCS received 46 percent of its funding from the federal government. Another 37 percent came through local tax dollars with the state supplying 17 percent, according to Goshe.
Mears praised the agency’s work, pointing out he was raised in a family with two foster sisters, one of which his family later adopted.
“I’d be hard pressed to identify more essential services than taking care of our children the way that you do,” Mears said. “You do amazing work.”
