Bulletin 2015-03 January 30, 2015 COUNTY VETERANS SERVICE COMMISSION - AVERAGE COST OF FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE PER PARTICIPANT IN 2013 Ohio Law requires the establishment of a Veterans Service Commission (VSC) in each county to provide financial assistance to any veteran, active duty member of the U.S. Armed Forces or the spouse, surviving spouse, dependent parent, minor child or ward of a veteran or active duty member of the U.S. Armed Forces that meets the eligibility requirements of the law. The law requires the Veterans Service Commission to establish policies and procedures for the administration of the commission and the veteran’s service office. The law also permits the commission to employ an executive director and veteran’s service officers to assist needy veterans and their families in obtaining financial assistance and to perform other duties of the commission. Ohio law requires each board of commissioners to levy an amount, not to exceed five-tenths of a mill per dollar of the assessed value of property in the county, to fund the operation of the commission and the veteran service office. Ohio courts have determined that this five tenths levy is not a voted levy but is in fact a part of the county’s inside millage. From this amount the commissioners appropriate the amount determined to be necessary to provide financial assistance to persons entitled to such aid and for the operation of the veterans service office in the following year. The following table provides information on the veterans’ population, the number of veterans assisted, the aggregate financial assistance expenditures, and the average cost of assistance per participant for each county. County Adams Allen Ashland Ashtabula Athens Veteran Population Assisted Financial Assistance Expenditures Average Cost per Participant 2,002 8,438 4,144 9,037 4,093 1554 187 126 92 1000 149,904 172,497 55,584 102,603 258,335 96 922 441 1,115 258 County Veteran Population Assisted Financial Assistance Expenditures Average Cost per Participant Auglaize Belmont Brown Butler Carroll Champaign Clark Clermont Clinton Columbiana Coshocton Crawford Cuyahoga Darke Defiance Delaware Erie Fairfield Fayette Franklin Fulton Gallia Geauga Greene Guernsey Hamilton Hancock Hardin Harrison Henry Highland Hocking Holmes Huron Jackson Jefferson Knox Lake Lawrence Licking Logan 4,242 6,312 3,728 26,644 2,488 3,175 13,611 16,126 3,535 9,393 3,029 4,144 82,786 3,734 2,994 12,107 8,117 12,661 2,339 71,679 2,985 2,401 6,206 16,755 3,313 50,316 5,569 2,157 1,564 2,275 3,564 2,807 1,524 4,824 2,871 6,627 4,923 18,931 5,192 15,060 4,030 94 251 91 222 133 151 250 796 182 163 62 63 8095 71 421 115 222 248 129 4532 24 33 52 120 458 1340 155 257 34 100 112 140 113 34 301 508 265 418 1188 1146 508 59,104 104,552 46,999 220,120 92,987 58,583 161,707 720,669 48,984 76,044 30,846 44,455 3,437,425 32,902 95,677 59,406 184,047 240,794 149,025 2,473,273 19,114 21,783 55,738 158,215 95,918 606,041 231,990 43,829 9,934 68,940 70,442 109,528 125,451 33,340 68,551 83,796 153,467 462,817 129,624 866,611 103,105 629 417 516 992 699 388 647 905 269 467 498 706 425 463 227 517 829 971 1,155 546 796 660 1,072 1,318 209 452 1,497 171 292 689 629 782 1,110 981 228 165 579 1,107 109 756 203 County Veteran Population Assisted Financial Assistance Expenditures Average Cost per Participant Lorain Lucas Madison Mahoning Marion Medina Meigs Mercer Miami Monroe Montgomery Morgan Morrow Muskingum Noble Ottawa Paulding Perry Pickaway Pike Portage Preble Putnam Richland Ross Sandusky Scioto Seneca Shelby Stark Summit Trumbull Tuscarawas Union Van Wert Vinton Warren Washington Wayne Williams Wood 26,902 29,788 3,909 19,810 5,073 13,677 2,297 2,723 8,574 1,589 45,329 1,571 3,078 6,866 1,196 3,605 1,746 3,058 5,242 2,303 11,745 3,495 1,953 10,935 7,276 4,827 6,424 4,375 3,512 30,385 40,814 20,129 7,509 3,835 2,173 1,136 16,471 6,047 8,126 3,113 9,121 189 2963 146 533 563 893 250 148 1190 391 661 65 130 970 24 91 101 482 353 757 207 555 41 191 4360 315 424 72 463 3525 2153 250 104 94 506 312 610 409 226 142 124 402,660 768,506 87,374 476,215 100,764 496,365 52,218 30,922 598,383 39,049 534,493 15,838 86,242 202,658 8,312 76,423 26,430 104,637 74,402 42,503 83,665 121,917 114,322 153,823 273,360 100,477 84,356 79,398 149,162 710,393 1,162,995 256,037 70,785 222,806 33,463 21,630 338,321 99,845 294,282 77,783 66,536 2,130 259 598 893 179 556 209 209 503 100 809 244 663 209 346 840 262 217 211 56 404 220 2,788 805 63 319 199 1,103 322 202 540 1,024 681 2,370 66 69 555 244 1,302 548 537 County Wyandot Total Veteran Population Assisted Financial Assistance Expenditures Average Cost per Participant 1,707 877,894 60 52,599 24,951 21,359,456 416 406 **All dollar amounts are rounded to the nearest dollar. Source: Ohio Department of Veterans Affairs, Ohio State Association of County Veterans Service Commissions and County Veterans Service Officers, Annual Report of Statistics 2013 Legal References: ORC Sections 5901.02 – 5901.04, 5901.06 – 5901.09, 5901.11.