Shelby City Health Dept. faces uncertainty

SHELBY- Shelby City Council members discussed the uncertain future of the Shelby City Health Department when they met in regular session.

Shelby City Council members took a stand against language in a bill that would go before the Ohio Senate which would ultimately drive the Shelby City Health Department to merge with Richland Public Health.

Councilman Garland

Gates made a motion for council to enter into a committee of the whole session to discuss the matter further. The motion passed unanimously.

“I put something together that was appropriate but not too long and I shared with the mayor. Once I got over my anger I was able to come up with this,” Gates stated.

A letter was composed for Rep. Marilyn John and Sen. Mark Romanchuk where all five council members shared disapproval to language in the budget bill.

In the opening of the letter, council members stated how much they appreciated the efforts of John and Romanchuk.

“Thank you very much for your efforts to save from outright elimination not only to the Shelby City Health District (CHD) but also the 18 other CHD’S that serve Ohio cities of under 50,000 population. We were gratified that the language to eliminate them was removed from the House version of the their

the state state budget letter stated.

Moving ahead in the committee of the whole session, Gates went over matters that remained ‘equally troubling’.

“However, the language in the proposed ORC. Section 3709.012 as the Ohio Senate considers the state budget bill is equally troubling. This section again targets the Shelby City Health District and the other mid sized city health district’s by requiring ‘a study examining the efficiency and effectiveness of merging with the general

bill,” the health district of the county which the city is located.’,” Gates read from the letter.

“Quite frankly, we are concerned that the criteria for such a study will lead to a foregone conclusion. Why is it that only city health districts must conduct this study? Is it assumed that general health districts-by the sole virtue of their populationare efficient and effective? The arbitrary 50,000

the money is use it to cut taxes, pay down debt or bolster the state rainy day fund.

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, a Republican, called Treasury’s directives on how the money should be used akin to “fantasy fiction.”

Because Ohio’s unemployment rate is not significantly higher than its pre-pandemic level, the state is eligible to receive just half of its $5.4 billion allotment immediately, with the rest being provided one

year later. Those states where unemployment rose significantly will get their full allotment right away.

Cleveland will receive $511 million under the program, with its home county, Cuyahoga, receiving another $240 million. Columbus will receive $187 million, while Franklin County, where it sits, will receive about $256 million. The figures for Cincinnati and Hamilton County are $280 million and $159 million, respectively.

Local governments can expect to receive funds in two batches, half coming this month and the rest a year from now.

Ohio Townships Association Executive Director Heidi Fought said only three of Ohio’s 1,308 townships received the recovery money, with the rest facing a disadvantage if they don’t receive similar direct funding. If that happens, they will urge government entities that did receive the funding to transfer some to cover services and programs for their roughly 4 million residents, she said.