HCBDD grateful for support, hopes to make levy continual
Antianna enjoys some arts and crafts at HCBDD Summer School. Holmes County Board of Developmental Disabilities is seeking to move its current five-year renewal levy to a continual one come this fall’s election.
For many decades the Holmes County Board of Developmental Disabilities has enjoyed great support from the community.
With the Holmes County commissioners recently adopting a resolution to place a renewal levy back on the ballot for 2024, the hope is the 3.75 mill levy will once again receive the support necessary to allow the staff there to continue the good work it has provided for families throughout Holmes County.
The renewal levy is being placed back on the ballot, not as the former five-year levy, but rather as a continuing levy.
According to Marianne Mader, Holmes County BDD superintendent, the issue is the HCBDD has two levies, both of which she said are critical to the ongoing success of the organization.
However, one is a 10-year levy and the other a five-year levy, and every 10 years the two coincide, meaning they run together, which she said can be confusing. She said making this one a continuing levy would help eliminate that.
“We are asking for a continuing levy, and we aren’t trying to hide that from anybody,” Mader said. “Our board made the decision to ask for it on a continuing basis, and that would allow us to continue to keep getting this money year after year.”
The HCBDD received the second levy in 2020, that one being the 10-year levy. Thus, every 10-year cycle, the two levies would butt up together.
“It’s sometimes confusing to our voters,” Mader said. “They say things like, ‘You were just on the ballot. Why are you asking for more money?’ But we need both of these levies to pass so that we are able to provide for the needs of our individuals and to maintain our facility.”
She said people with disabilities are never going away, and serving those people and their families remains a vital part of serving the county and its families.
She said failure to continue the levy would result in a loss of critical services.
With the resolution the levy will now be placed on the Nov. 5 ballot as it heads back into the hands of the voting public.
“We’re asking our Holmes County voters to continue their support,” Mader said. “They have always been so supportive, and it’s wonderful. We serve individuals from birth to death, and we don’t charge any fees for our services, unlike some other entities, so our only source of income is from the county.”
She said they do get some state funds that help, but the levies are the most influential income that helps drive the organization.
Mader said they are currently making strides in continuing the strategic plan of helping children with disabilities in the local school districts in addition to their school.
She said supporting those children is something they feel deeply about pursuing more.
In addition, the HCBDD goes into local homes of those with family members with disabilities, something she said was an expensive but necessary investment.
Commissioner Joe Miller said to Mader, “These people you serve are very special, and even more special are the people who work there.”
Mader said the staff has been incredible, and financially, it is both difficult and imperative to keep that professional staff intact. Remaining competitive with other counties in retaining quality staff is expensive.
She said many of their staff members are coming from out of the county because many of the positions require a college degree, and thus the HCBDD must work hard to remain strong from a salary standpoint.
She then shared a story about the progress being made in the HCBDD school through technology. She said many of the students struggle to communicate, talk, walk and even eat by themselves. She said the past two years they have made huge advancements in technology, which is helping students communicate on a much higher level.
“I’ve been blown away by our students’ understanding,” Mader said. “Students who I thought were unaware of their surroundings are having full conversations, and that gives me goosebumps.”
She said students will ask for a specific teacher to read them a story and then ask questions pertaining to that story.
“Mothers who never knew that their children understood what was going on around them are having conversations with them now,” Mader said. “Their lives have changed. We’ve given these children a voice they never had before, and I’m so proud of the work that our staff does.”
She said moments like that make it obvious why these levy dollars are so critical to what the HCBDD is working to accomplish among people with disabilities.