LEBANON — Warren County's commissioners are tightfisted and proud of it.

        But the pennies they pinch don't mean just fewer pencils for bureaucrats to push around. For social-service agencies on no-fat budgets, a shortage of money means help for fewer people.

        In 2001, for the second straight year, the commissioners will not collect the county's portion of the property tax. Their nearly $8 million loss means a gain of about $75 for the owner of a $100,000 house.

        “We don't need it, and as long as we don't need it, we will continue keeping it in taxpayers' pockets,” Commission President Pat South said last week.

        That plays well in this Republican stronghold.

        “I believe in taking care of people who are down and out, but I don't believe in welfare,” said Greg Jardine, 44, a longtime Lebanon resident and small-business man. “... I think we pay plenty.”

        Social services constitute less than 7 percent of the county's general fund, compared with 45 percent for criminal justice and 48 percent for the commission and other county offices.

        While the commissioners finish erecting a $12 million building for their offices and other departments, Children's Services remains shoehorned in a dreary, 83-year-old building next door.

        When Jeff Centers, agency director, came asking for an additional $120,000 for mandated services in late 2000, Commissioner Larry Crisen bery gave him a hard time.

        “If we did it with everybody this county would be broke,” Mr. Crisenbery said, while agreeing to give Children's Services most of the money. “... Don't expect to come in next year.”

        “The county does have money,” Mr. Centers said in an interview afterward. “How could it not, with the prosperity it has?”

        But he doesn't blame the commissioners for not spreading the wealth. “I think Warren County, as a rule, is conservative. I think that's what citizens want.”

        The county spends far less per capita than other area children's services agencies — an average of $15.73 — according to 1997 state figures, the latest available. The next-closest Greater Cincinnati county is Clermont, at $28.79 per capita. Butler spends $48.16.

        “We're conservative in our placement,” Mr. Centers said. “We like to keep children in the home as much as possible.”

        Too, Mrs. South says, county residents have the state's third-highest per-capita income, suggesting that social services are less used here than elsewhere.

        However, Warren County Community Services has a waiting list of 246 elderly who need help with bathing or chores around the house.

        The commissioners added $200,000 for elderly services this year, in addition to a $458,000 match of federal money. Community Services had asked for $375,000, and it would take twice that to clear the waiting list, according to the Southwest Ohio Council on Aging.

        An alternative is to seek a levy for elderly services, which most area counties have. The commissioners, however, are staunchly against the idea.

Restorations preserve courthouses
Book details courthouses in all of Ohio's 88 counties
Art exhibit draws crowds
Minister shot by holed-up gunman
Police legal aid donations top $2,500
Group calls downtown boycott a success
Townships compete for population title
Business, population boom in Wilder
Observatory visitors get a look at galaxy
Teen volunteers honored
UC alum wins gold medal as architect
Warren agencies pinched
Fires leave 2 dead, family homeless
Oxford seeks funds to widen U.S. 27
You asked for it
Local Digest
5 compete for Mason fire job
Doctor old hand at 24
Pristine lake's future cloudy
U.S. vs. Tobacco: New book tells all