Opioid epidemic causing financial stress for Ohio counties, taxpayers

Eleven Ohio counties have levies on the November ballot to support the social service agencies that have become overwhelmed by the opioid epidemic, and county administrators expect more levies on ballots in the next few years (Source: “Cost of opioid epidemic soars, hitting taxpayers harder than ever,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, Oct. 8, 2017).

With the increase in synthetic opioids, which are far deadlier than heroin alone, the crisis and its fallout are growing worse, causing more counties to go to voters for help, authorities said.

Jails across the state are already paying hundreds of thousands of dollars a year for withdrawal medications for inmates with opioid addictions, according to sheriffs and county officials. Besides staff overtime, medical expenses in jails - driven by the crisis - are one of the fastest growing costs for counties.

"And who pays for that? The taxpayers do, and many don't realize that we have to spend so much money for it,'' said Lt. Marc Churchill of the Fairfield County Sheriff's Department. His county, with a population of about 151,000, is southeast of Columbus. The county pays about $45,000 a year for medication-assisted treatments, such as Vivitrol, a drug that fights a user's cravings for opioids.