In 2024, Council on Aging contracted with Scripps Gerontology Center at Miami University to conduct an evaluation of the demographics of Butler County’s older adult population.
Information from the evaluation will be used to help determine the future of Butler County’s Elderly Services Program and the Senior Services Tax Levy that funds it. The first Butler County Senior Services Tax Levy was passed in 1996. The levy was last renewed by voters in 2020, but voters have not been asked to increase the levy since 2005. In 2023, the Butler County Elderly Services Program served more than 4,000 eligible older adults.
A similar evaluation was last conducted in 2013. While Butler County’s older adult population has grown, results from the 2024 evaluation show significant changes in population growth projections compared to 2013. For example, in 2013, Scripps projected the county would experience a 50% increase in the population of adults age 85 and older between 2020 and 2040. In this latest evaluation, projections for this age group have been reduced to 36%. Scripps attributes the changes to the COVID-19 pandemic, which had a significant impact on the older adult population.
Key Findings from the Scripps Evaluation:
- Butler County has more than 83,000 residents aged 60 and older, accounting for 21% of its total population (6,200 of these individuals are aged 85 and older).
- Since the last Senior Services Tax Levy increase in 2005, the county population age 60 and older has increased by 70% and the 85 and older age group has increased by 50%.
- While the size of the Butler County population age 85 and older is lower than initially projected in 2013, it will increase by 36% between 2020 and 2040.
- Butler County residents appear slightly less vulnerable than Ohioans statewide, but still:
- four in 10 live alone
- one in seven live at 150% or below of poverty
- one in five homeowners and half of all renters pay more than 30% of their income for housing
- About 6,000 county residents age 60 and older have a moderate impairment – making them eligible for the Elderly Services Program – and another 6,000 residents age 60 and older have a severe impairment.
- The COVID-19 pandemic reduced the occupancy of nursing homes and assisted living facilities in the county, increasing reliance on the Elderly Services Program.
- The Elderly Services Program is helping Butler County older adults remain independent and less reliant on nursing facilities or Medicaid-funded services, compared to the state average.
- Given the increase in the 85 and older population in particular, and the past overall population increases, it will be necessary for the county to either increase levy resources or modify expenditures by tightening eligibility criteria or reducing service coverage.
Council on Aging and the Butler County Elderly Services Program Advisory Council will use the Scripps evaluation to develop recommendations for the future of the Elderly Services Program. Recommendations will be presented to county commissioners for approval. The current Senior Service Tax Levy will expire at the end of 2025.
Click here to read the Scripps evaluation.