After the 2024 Election most Americans were thrilled at the creation of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Unfortunately, Clermont has no DOGE. So, we must DOGE ourselves.
The purpose of the county public health department is to protect, promote, and improve the health and safety of the entire local community.
CCPH Revenue
According to the 2025 Annual Report, CCPH’s total revenue was $5,250,766.74, over 5.2 million dollars! Of that revenue: 50.88% comes from Licenses, Permits and Services. In other words, you pay for all the services you get from CCPH.
24.38% comes from State and Federal grants.
15.33% come from Clermont Townships and Villages. To quote the CCPH Annual Report “The Township/Village contributions are based on taxable real and public utility property and taxable personal property on general duplicate tax list”. Whoa! Are they basing the Township/Village contributions on your accessed property? Hello Clermont! What just happened in 2026? A reassessment of everyone’s property. Our property taxes will rise. And the CCPH will demand more money from the Townships/Villages based on the new assessment. Yikes! If you look on the County Auditors site at your “Current Tax Distribution”, part of your taxes goes to your township/village Fire & EMS, Road & Bridge and General Fund. And in turn, part of those funds will be distributed to CCPH.
But what do our Townships and Villages get in return for this contribution to the CCPH? To quote a friend of Citizen Sentinels who is township trustee, “Nothing but a wink and a smile.” In other words, nothing, nada, zip.
The rest of their other income comes from other smaller sources.
CCPH Expenses
The CCPH employs between 50-60 employees at any given time.
We have looked at the CCPH Revenue. Let us look at the expenses. Of the 5.2 million revenue, 59.74%, or $2,972,103.94 is allocated to salaries. Just for fun, divide the previous number by the 60 personnel (we’ll be generous) and you come up with 50K. Not bad. But that is not how the pie is really divided. We shall explore this topic in a subsequent article, Unpacking the CCPH Part 2 - Staffing.
The next big part of the expenses is Fringe Benefits, which has a balance of 19.26% or $958,295.94. But what are these Fringe Benefits? They include pretty much the standard, Retirement, SS/Medicare, Health Care, Workers Comp, Life Insurance, Unemployment and Long Term Disability, which is not included by most employers. Sounds like a sweet benefits package. Hard to tell how sweet it is though without further digging.
So, add Salaries and Fringe Benefits together and you get 79%. 79% of the total over 5.2-million-dollar budget is $3,930,399.58. Almost 4 million dollars for 60 county employees, which comes to roughly $65.5K each. But remember that is not how the pie is divided.
The other expenses range from Purchased Services, Training, Materials & Supplies, Vehicle Leases, Maintenance & Repairs, etc. You can see this for yourself on the CCPH website under Annual Report.
So, who controls the CCPH? The Clermont County Health Commissioner. The Health Commissioner (HC) has two Assistant Health Commissioners.
And just who oversees the CCPH, this local government entity with a 5.2 million budget? The County Commissioners? The County Auditor? Who is responsible for assuring that the CCPH runs as efficiently as possible on our tax dollars?
The Clermont County Board of Health.
But who and what is the Clermont County Board of Health? The Clermont County BOH is composed of five volunteers. Each board member must have an expertise in health-related field, such as a doctor, nurse or veterinarian, septic specialty, or hospitality. The BOH meets monthly usually to review septic cases, restaurant issues and other health related matters. The BOH is also solely responsible for the oversight of the CCPH and hiring/firing of the Health Commissioner. And for all this, each BOH member gets paid $80 per meeting.
So, the only oversight of the $5.2 million local government entity are five volunteers who meet monthly and are paid $80 each.
Let that sink in.
Photo courtesy of Facebook.