Hamilton County’s child welfare system is staring down a major budget crunch, and county leaders are quietly debating whether to ask homeowners for a hefty new property tax levy to keep services at current levels. Consultants told the county’s levy review committee that without additional revenue, Hamilton County Jobs and Family Services (JFS) would need roughly $123 million a year just to avoid deep cuts to children’s services, or it could pursue smaller levy options that would come with significant program reductions. Officials stressed that no final ballot measure or specific cuts have been approved.
At a Monday meeting of the Tax Levy Review Committee, held at the JFS complex in Bond Hill, two consultants from Public Consulting Group outlined three possible levy scenarios and recommended putting a proposal on the November ballot, according to Cincinnati CityBeat. Their slide deck walked through current revenue streams, placement costs and projected reserve balances, and pinned down dollar targets for each option.
Three Scenarios, Big Tradeoffs
The consultants framed the choice as three very different price tags. One option, roughly $123,417,635 per year, would keep children’s services operating at current levels. A second, at about $74,044,169 per year, assumes JFS makes about $36 million in cuts for 2026. The third, at roughly $65 million, would require much deeper reductions, including in hiring, supports for relatives caring for children and placements for older youth, Signal Cincinnati reports. Some of the projections assume the new levy would start with around $15 million in reserve funds.
Where The Revenue Gap Comes From
Slides presented to the committee highlighted how heavily Hamilton County leans on its own taxpayers to fund child welfare. Over the past five years, local government has supplied about 70 percent of children’s services revenue, with federal money covering roughly 18 percent and the state contributing about 12 percent, according to Cincinnati CityBeat. Presenters also flagged a new state policy change. Ohio will no longer let Social Security income count toward room and board for some youth in custody, a shift JFS estimates could cost the agency about $900,000 a year.
What Cuts And Shifts Would Look Like
To keep the current levy limping along through 2026, county staff have already drafted a menu of about $35 to $36 million in potential cuts, internal shifts and program trims. Proposals on the list include scaling back independent living contracts for young adults ages 18 to 21, capping kinship stipends once state payments begin, slowing down hiring and moving some expenses to the county’s general fund or to other levies. Citizen Portal has published a meeting summary detailing those possible adjustments.
What’s Next For The Levy…