Hamilton County homeowners will pay $39 more per $100,000 of home value for children's services after voters approved Issue 10 on Tuesday, Nov. 3.

The levy passed with 57% voting in favor, Local 12 reported.

The new levy will cost homeowners $121 per $100,000 of home value each year, according to WCPO. The previous levy cost about $82 previously, compared with about $121 under the approved levy.

For Hyde Park, where Zillow estimates the average home value at about $583,000, the levy would cost a typical homeowner roughly $706 a year. That is calculated from the $121-per-$100,000 rate applied to the Zillow estimate, which is a commercial automated figure and not an official assessed value. Under the old levy, that same homeowner paid about $472.

What the levy funds

The money goes to Hamilton County Job and Family Services (JFS) programs. Those include the child abuse and neglect hotline, foster care, adoption, family reunification, behavioral health services for children and emergency placement for kids removed from unsafe homes, WVXU reported.

JFS reported 13,252 children relied on those services last year. About 80% of the services the agency provides are required by the state, according to WVXU.

The Cincinnati Regional Chamber of Commerce endorsed the levy. Pete Metz, a representative of the chamber, said, "Growing, thriving regions take care of their most vulnerable residents, especially our children, so they can get the care they need," according to WCPO.

A smaller ask than what was needed

The approved levy still falls short of full funding. A county committee that reviews levies determined JFS needs $144 million a year to cover base-level mandated services, WVXU reported. That would have required $157 per $100,000 of home value.

County commissioners worried voters would reject that price tag. They approved a smaller request, projected to generate about $116 million to $117 million a year, and said they would work with JFS to cut spending and find other funding sources.

The agency has already cut $36 million. Cost-saving measures include placing more children in kinship care rather than traditional foster care, maximizing reimbursements and lobbying state leaders for more support, according to WVXU.

How the levy reached the ballot

Hamilton County commissioners placed Issue 10 on the ballot in August after considering 15 different proposals over the summer, according to WCPO. Commissioner Denise Driehaus and Commissioner Stephanie Summerow Dumas voted to put the measure before voters. Commissioner Alicia Reece abstained.

Reece had proposed an alternative that would have raised the levy by only 10% and used a portion of stadium sales tax revenue to close the funding gap, WCPO reported. Driehaus and Summerow Dumas did not support that plan.

The levy is a four-year measure, according to WLWT. The previous levy expires at the end of 2026.

The Hamilton County Democratic Party also endorsed Issue 10, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. The Hamilton County Republican Party did not take a position on the levy.

Official certified results from the Hamilton County Board of Elections were not yet available as of Nov. 4.