Cancer detection clinic replacement levy beaten
By MARY ANN GREIER, Staff WriterLISBON - Residents in the Columbiana County General Health District voted against replacement of a cancer detection clinic levy which would have resulted in a small tax increase.
According to complete, but unofficial results released by the Columbiana County Board of Elections Tuesday night, voters cast 10,685 votes, or 48 percent, in favor of the .2-mill, 10-year replacement levy, with 11,471 votes, or 52 percent against the issue.
The tax levy would have replaced the current .2-mill levy being collected for the cancer clinic which expires at the end of this year. The new levy would have generated an estimated $238,500 per year since it would have been based on today's home values instead of the values from 10 years ago.
As a replacement, the levy would have meant a tax increase, but according to information from the county Auditor's Office, the increase would have been small. The owner of a $100,000 home would have paid an additional $1.45 per year for the levy, with the total tax per year estimated at $6.13.
Voters in the cities of East Liverpool, Salem and East Palestine did not vote on the issue since they have their own health districts.
Health Commissioner Wes Vins visited township trustee and village council meetings in the past couple of months to talk about the cancer clinic and provide information about the levy. At last week's health board meeting, cancer survivors filled the room and thanked the board for the clinic, with many saying they owed their lives to the clinic due to early detection of their cancer.
Voters first approved the levy for 10 years in November 1980, renewed it for another 10 years in November 1990 and again in November 2000 as a replacement. The department also uses some grant funding from Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure to help with cancer clinic costs.
Since the clinic first opened on Aug. 2, 1965 through June 30, 2009, there have been 54,026 cancer screenings, beginning with pap tests from day one to detect cervical cancer, mammograms since 1990 to detect breast cancer, colorectal cancer screenings since 1991, skin cancer screenings since 1997, prostate cancer screenings since 2002 and pelvic exams since 2007.
Facebook
MySpace
Digg
Stumble
Mixx
Fark
del.icio.us
LiveSpaces
|
kellyw
|
|
|---|---|
|
11-04-09 12:46 PM
|
This is such a shame that this levy was defeated! Such wonderful services were provided to SO MANY county residents and would have continued for only a dollar or so extra per year? what is wrong with people?
|
|
WatchDog
|
|
|
11-04-09 9:21 AM
|
Welcome to the world of Obamacare. Still don't get it do you?
|
|
block50
|
|
|
11-04-09 6:03 AM
|
Good hatchet job, Salem News. Your little 'Journalism 101' venture into investigative reporting killed a good levy and a good thing. Well, that's more money we have to spend at our shiny new Ohio casinos.
|
|
mayfair13
|
|
|
11-04-09 12:58 AM
|
what a shame; this levy had been around for such a long while and people were already paying this on their taxes. wonder if ppl realized how many people this actually helped. i know i went to one of the skin cancer screenings and my husband went to the psa screenings. we thought it was a good thing. will cchd still have their cancer detection clinic now? will there still be free psa screenings, free skin cancer screenings, free pap tests for county residents? are they going to do them and charge now instead? are they going to still do mammograms? didn't cchd's cancer detection clinic get awards? guess people really wanted to save that extra one dollar on their taxes...think it is a shame but understand that people are tired of tax hikes...just seemed like this was actually an exception to things though and was actually a positive thing for our community.
|