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Union tells commission: Apple Creek, Springview closures will shift burden onto taxpayers, communities

May 19, 2004 - A representatives of Ohio’s largest state employee union testified yesterday before the General Assembly’s MR/DD Closure Commission that the closure of two centers for the mentally retarded will only result in increased costs for Ohio taxpayers.

OCSEA representative Peter Wray told the six-member commission investigating the proposed closures of the Apple Creek and Springview Developmental Centers that several aspects of the Legislative Services Commission cost analysis bear further discussion. Wray made specific reference to the:

• LSC’s analysis of bond debt;
• Continued cost of closing these facilities;
• Cost comparison of DCs to community care;
• Loss of revenue to area communities.

“Ohio taxpayers will have to bear an additional tax burden by leaving these facilities empty because they will have to pay for the bonds for capital improvement projects on the facilities as well as new housing and additional services for the individual.”

Wray also discussed how ODMR/DD is, in general, shifting responsibility of care for these individuals from the state to county and local governments, leaving taxpayers on the hook yet again.

“Little or no savings to the taxpayer will result from the closures,” said Wray. “This is a prime example of tax shifting rather than tax savings.”

Wray also noted there will be little or no savings from vacating the facility. “We learned from testimony in Springfield and Apple Creek that the possibility of reselling these facilities is remote due to the economic downturn in these areas. “The Department should have learned their lesson after the closure of Broadview DC, when that facility was sold to the city government for only a dollar,” said Wray.

In addition, Wray emphasized that, although the commission has heard testimony detailing the costs as the result of the closures, the LSC report was unable to accurately estimate the additional costs of services not included in the cost when a resident chooses a waiver or private ICFs/MR.

Wray recommended cutting funding to ODMR/DD central office instead of taking away vital services to Ohio’s most vulnerable citizens. “We know from the last round of budget hearings that central office had grown by roughly 100 staff,” said Wray. “If the system is going to be serving 100 fewer people after these closures, why should the taxpayer have to continue to fund a lopsided bureaucracy in central office?”

For more information: 614-865-2604, 614-205-9967 (cell).

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