TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) – Lucas County Children Services is asking voters to approve Issue 30: a five-year, 1.8-mill levy that would raise about $13.5 million. LCCS Public Information Officer Kevin Milliken said the agency is asking for new money to fund new federal regulations and cover increased costs.

“The number 30 is a necessity,” Milliken said. “Our costs of placing children in our care have exploded. They amounted to approximately $9 million per year over a three-year period. But because of some new federal regulations, those sums exploded this year to $21.5 million.

If passed, the levy would cost the owner of a $100,000 home about $52.50 a year. This is in addition to the two previously enacted LCCS levies that property owners currently pay.

Number 30 is based on 2024 property values, not 2025 values ​​released by the Lucas County auditor earlier this year; the tax will remain based on 2024 property values ​​for the duration of the levy.

Dr. Hope Bland, the agency’s director of diversity, equity, inclusion and strategy, said these new regulations push for more prevention.

“The goal of prevention is to keep people working, it’s really to keep families out of our system,” Bland said.

Milliken said prevention can help reduce costs in the long run.

“It really is an investment because if we don’t do these interventions now, they could be a burden on society as a lifelong social service,” he said.

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