MORE: The man at the morgue: Drug deaths ‘emergency of mass disaster’ scale
Here’s a look at five of the county government’s top topics from 2017:
Opioid crisis
Accidental overdose deaths in Montgomery County rose so fast earlier this year that by June the number had exceeded the 2016 total of 349 and health officials were bracing for up to 800 dead.
While 2017 will end as the deadliest yet for county overdose deaths — 559 had died by the end of November — health officials say work to reduce the number of deaths is taking hold. Following a high of 81 deaths in May, fewer than half that number died in each of the last five months, held to 30 in November.
RELATED: Montgomery County OD crisis: ‘We are nowhere near achieving our goal’
“We all hope for that pattern to continue because that means fewer people are losing loved ones to this problem,” said Montgomery County Health Commissioner Jeff Cooper at a meeting of the Community Overdose Action Team, a community-wide, collective response to the opioid epidemic.
Ohio Department of Health data released this year for 2016 show Montgomery County had the highest overdose death rate in the state – 42.5 per 100,000 people. The rate was high, but not the highest in the nation as some contended.
MORE: 5 key events that spurred Ohio’s opioid epidemic
The Community Overdose Action Team grew to more than 200 people from 100-plus organizations working on initiatives from increasing Narcan distribution to drug interdiction by law enforcement. The organization also pushed for additional syringe services and expansion of 24/7 detox and other treatment options, including for inmates in the county jail. The group also worked with law enforcement and area health care providers on intervention, prevention and education strategies.
The region’s two major health care provider networks along with a number of other partners also securing funding and finalizing plans for a stand-alone community drug crisis stabilization.
The goal: to help those addicted to opioids and other drugs quickly get detox and treatment services and alleviate some of the burden on hospital emergency departments, said Bryan Bucklew, president and CEO of the Greater Dayton Area Hospital Association.
MORE: Detox facility planned by region’s hospitals, community partners
The centrally-located facility — that would house patients generally less than 24 hours — could treat a number of overdose patients with no other health risks, Bucklew said in October.
The federal Drug Enforcement Administration launched its “360 Degree Strategy” in the county during 2017 to not only crack down on dealers, but also help curb the over prescribing of pain pills and put a greater emphasis on drug prevention through community outreach, relationship building and public service announcements.
RELATED: Program launched by feds to battle local opioid epidemic
While the problem is unprecedented on a national scale, there was a reason the DEA picked Dayton as a 2017 pilot city, said Timothy J. Plancon, special agent in charge of the DEA’s Detroit Field Division.
“Few communities have experienced and suffered from this epidemic as dramatically as Dayton, Montgomery County and the Miami Valley area,” he said. “Chances are most people here have been directly impacted.”
County jail operations under scrutiny
The amount of taxpayer money spent defending and settling a spate of lawsuits against the Montgomery County Jail soared above a million dollars during 2017 when county commissioners approved a $380,000 payout to Emily Evans.
SPECIAL REPORT: Justice in the Jailhouse — Lawsuits, accusations plague county jails in the region
Evans, then 27, was brought to the jail in 2014 on a drunk driving charge. The lawsuit claimed Evans was threatened by a deputy who had a Taser pointed at her and was then slammed to the floor by a sergeant, causing facial fractures.
Evans was the fourth former inmate to receive a settlement over alleged mistreatment in the jail. Others include Darryl Wallace , Marsha Pate-Strickland and Amber Swink, whose videotaped pepper spaying by then-Sgt. Judith Sealey was covered up, alleges a retired jail sergeant.
RELATED: Former jail sergeant alleges cover-up in interview
By November, the settlements cost the county $888,000. An additional $444,000 has been spent on outside legal counsel and litigation costs, according to county records.
Six other lawsuits against the jail are pending.
“We have to end up with significantly fewer lawsuits because taxpayers are paying a lot of money – too much money – to resolve these cases,” Montgomery County Commission President Dan Foley said last month.
RELATED: 5 firms want to study embattled Montgomery County Jail
A Justice Advisory Committee for the Montgomery County Jail was formed in March to provide a report to commissioners that will identify best practices around programming, staffing levels, training, policies and procedures, as well as “bricks and mortar investments” the county might make in the facility which saw its last major renovation in 1994.
Five firms submitted proposals this month to study jail operations for the independent Justice Advisory Committee.
Property values rebound from historic drop
Montgomery County residential property values rebounded in 2017 from the worst decline since the Great Depression because of a revived local economy and robust housing market.
RELATED: County property values rebound from recession’s drop
More than 60 percent of county residential properties were valued higher than three years ago. The results 2017 triennial value update represented “a significant turnaround for the county,” said Karl Keith, Montgomery County auditor.
It was good news for the community “as it reflects on the state of our overall economy,” Keith said. “This growth is a very positive sign and indicates that we are indeed back on track.”
The higher valuations — the biggest gains since 2005 — though could mean increased property taxes for some next year.
RELATED: Home values have risen in all Montgomery County communities but one
Values on all properties, including commercial, rose 4.5 percent, representing $1.2 billion in gains and clawing back about a third of the $3.5 billion in value lost after 2008, Keith said. The county’s tentative total property tax value is a little more than $26 billion.
Keith said the county experienced historic drops in values the last two cycles — seven percent in 2011 and another four percent in 2014.
“We hadn’t seen drops in value like that in Montgomery County since the Great Depression in the 1930s,” he said.
Residential property values rose 6.3 percent, a potential benefit for schools, which receive roughly two-thirds of every property tax dollar, said Montgomery County Treasurer Carolyn Rice. In 2014, as the region continued digging out of the Great Recession, values decreased on 70 percent of residential properties.
RELATED: County property tax reappraisal: What’s next for homeowners?
Farmland prices dropped in the county during 2017, but by design to help farmers pay less in taxes.
An average 24 percent decline was the result of a change in the statewide formula that determines Current Agricultural Use Value (CAUV). Farmers lobbied for the revision after land values rose in some instances 300 percent over the past two county reappraisals.
Montgomery County Fairgrounds
Plans for moving the Montgomery County Fairgrounds from its Dayton home of more than 160 years “died about 10 times” over the years, said Montgomery County Commissioner Dan Foley.
But in 2017, ground was broken at a new site at Arthur O. Fisher Park in Jefferson Twp. for the new Montgomery County Fairgrounds & Event Center, a complex designed for year-round use.
RELATED: Public offers input on future of fairgrounds redevelopment
Construction is underway on the 150-acres that will include several climate-controlled buildings allowing for year-round use during the first $15 million construction phase.
“It’s a new and exciting beginning,” John Yancik, president of the Montgomery County Agricultural Society Board, said over the summer anticipating the groundbreaking.
RELATED: Who was Arthur O. Fisher? Meet the bombardier, prosecutor, judge and trailblazer
The move from the 38-acre downtown site was bittersweet for many.
Jeff Keefer said he will never again be able to sit in his box seats at the old fairgrounds, look to his right, and imagine his late grandmother playing the organ as she did for 40 years at the annual horse show.
RELATED: Montgomery County Fairgrounds grandstand seats final crowd
“Those memories will be etched in my mind forever,” said Keefer, 62. “When you grow up with that being part of your fabric, you just don’t want it to go away.”
The new owners of the old fairgrounds, Premier Health and the University of Dayton, are working on a development plan for the site across from Miami Valley Hospital.
MORE: Looking back at the Montgomery County Fair, whose origins stretch back almost 180 years
Premier Health and UD hired Columbus-based Planning NEXT to help with the process. They held a public workshop in November attended by about 300 people. Redevelopment ideas included more housing, new restaurants, a grocery store and a wedding venue in the historic Roundhouse among hundreds of ideas discussed.
Water and sewer rates to climb for 80,000 customers
Officials said Montgomery County’s aging water and sewer system could wait no longer and raised rates for more than 80,000 residential and business customers who will see higher bills beginning in 2018.
The rates will go up 14 percent next year and another 5.6 percent each year after through 2022.
RELATED: Montgomery County commissioners approve water, sewer rate increase
Deteriorating infrastructure and ballooning maintenance and construction costs compounded by few state or federal funds and higher water costs from the city Dayton all prompted the decision, officials said.
While Montgomery County purchases water pumped by the city of Dayton, the county maintains a distribution system of 1,400 miles of water mains that provide drinking water and fire prevention for about 250,000 residents. The system also has 1,200 miles of sewer line and two wastewater plants.
MORE: Are the drugs we’re taking — and flushing down the toilet — hurting our water?
“It may appear to be a relatively large increase,” County Administrator Joe Tuss previously said. “But when you look at where we’ve been from a historic standpoint, it’s about catching up and generating the revenue we need to invest.”
The average Montgomery County residential customer, now paying about $170, will see quarterly bills rise about $24 next year.
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