Tax hike OK’d for protective services

FAIRFIELD COUNTY

LANCASTER — Fifty-seven percent of voters approved a property-tax increase to fund protective services for abused or neglected children and the elderly in Fairfield County, according to final, unofficial results from the county Board of Elections.

The vote was 17,339 to 13,049.

The 1-mill renewal, with a 1-mill increase, for 10 years will generate about $6.95 million annually and will cost homeowners about $66 per $100,000 in valuation. The total includes the renewal cost of about $31 per $100,000, plus the increase of $35 per $100,000, according to the county auditor’s office.

Fairfield County Job and Family Services officials said they need more money to fund the office’s Child & Adult Protective Services unit, mainly because of the opioid epidemic and its spillover effect on both children of addicted parents and on elderly people cared for at home by addicted children or grandchildren.

“Children and the elderly are the silent victims” of the opioid epidemic, said Kristi Burre, who directs the protective services unit.

Eight in 10 children placed in protective services have been taken from households with parental substance abuse in the county of about 152,000 residents, Burre said. On average, 176 children are in protective custody, most of them in foster homes. But 13 are in residential treatment centers, where the monthly cost is $7,000 per child, Burre said.