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Across Northeast Ohio Health Levies Pass, A Sales Tax Fails

[Annie Wu / ideastream]

Voters in Cuyahoga County renewed a health and human services tax levy that will go towards mental health care, job training, MetroHealth hospital and other programs. 73 percent voted for the levy.

In Lorain, a mental health services levy passed with 74 percent of the vote, while 61 percent voted in favor of a levy renewal for the health district in Portage county.

The Alcohol, Drug Addiction, and Mental Health Services Board of Lake County will continue to receive public funding for its programs thanks to a 67 percent favorable vote.

Also in Lake County an additional levy to fund the crime lab passed by nearly 66 percent. The county’s prosecuting attorney Charles Coulson says it was the first such levy since the original funding for the crime lab passed in 1999.

“The opiate epidemic has caused so much crime that we had to hire more scientists, we have to do more tests, and we’ve also developed some new kind of tests, some new science – Touch DNA – that cost a lot of money to perform these tests,” Coulson said.

In Medina County, a proposal to increase the sales and use tax by .2 percent to fund expansion of criminal justice programs failed with 64 percent opposed and 36 in favor.

Annie Wu is the deputy editor of digital content for Ideastream Public Media.