County voters turned down an additional tax levy for the Clermont County Board of Mental Retardation/Developmental Disabilities that would have provided more help and services for children and adults in the county.

        The levy was the only countywide issue on the ballot in Clermont on Tuesday. It went down to defeat, 15,426 to 13,571 in final, unofficial tallies.

        People across the county approved all local nonschool levies on the ballot.

        Among them: levies for operating expenses in three villages — Felicity, Newtonsville and Williamsburg — and replacement, renewals and additional levies for fire, emergency medical services, police and street repair in Miami, Batavia, Franklin and Wayne townships, and in the village of Bethel.

        The five-year, 1.88-mill MRDD levy would have eventually replaced a 0.75-mill levy that officials say didn't meet the needs of the community. That levy expires at the end of 2002.

        The new levy would have generated about $6.3 million a year; the current levy generates about $2 million.

        The new levy would have cost the owner of a $100,000 home about $84 a year once the old levy expired next year, according to the Clermont County auditor's office.

        The MRDD board had served about 1,300 people in the past year, with 62 percent of its funds coming from the levy. Federal and state money make up the rest.

        Lisa Davis, director of community relations for the MRDD board, had said the board sought the additional levy because of waiting lists.

        She said 54 people were waiting for adult services, and more than 100 were waiting for supported living.

        In Miami Township in Clermont County, the five-year, 3.5-mill renewal, which was approved, 4,243 to 1,127, will generate about $2.2 million a year and help pay for fire, police and emergency medical services.

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