Orman Hall, executive director of the Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Board said he hopes better depression screening and other services can improve in the county since the board's levy passed Tuesday.

"We worked this levy just about as hard as we could," Orman Hall, executive director of the ADAMH Board said after the levy passed 52.91 to 47.09 percent Tuesday

The Fairfield County ADAMH Board passed its .75-mill replacement levy.

The last time the ADAMH Board tried to get a levy passed, the measure failed, Hall said. But since it passed this time, ADAMH Board customers can expect to see services return that were cut over the last three years.

The most recent effort was in November 2004 when an additional levy failed by about 53 percent to 47 percent.

Hall said the third time placing the issue on the ballot was a charm because of the outpouring of support from volunteers throughout the county.

"We're very relieved," Hall said. "We're very thankful to the voters of Fairfield County."

One Fairfield County resident, Mike Watts, 50, of Lancaster, said he supported the levy because it was a small way of giving back to the board that helped him walk away from alcoholism.

He said he also saw how the board changed the lives of men he saw in group counseling at The Recovery Center, a counseling center partially funded by the board.

"It's just so little to spend, and it does so much," Watts said.

The levy, called Issue 6, will cost the owner of a $100,000 home $22.96 a year.

The additional $1.6 million each year generated by the replacement levy will be used to restore programs the ADAMH Board cut during the past few years, Hall said.

The ADAMH Board supports organizations including New Horizons Youth and Family Center and The Lighthouse, which serves victims of domestic violence.

One program expected to return is the sliding-fee scale at New Horizons Youth and Family Center, said Tony Motta, the center's chief executive officer.

New Horizons turned away about 200 people last year because the sliding-fee scale option was eliminated, Motta said. He expects that number to rise to 400 people this year who cannot afford to pay for mental health services.

Officials at The Lighthouse, a shelter for victims of domestic violence, also expect to bring back services that were eliminated during the past three years.

Suzanne Walker, shelter director, said women and children who have been sexually assaulted no longer are met at the hospital by Lighthouse employees.

If rape victims want help, they have to look for counseling themselves. Walker said that means some people are not getting the help they need.

Hall said voters can expect to see services return in the next six months.

"That will be one of our very top priorities," he said after the unofficial results were announced. "We have some planning to do in terms of making sure that we use these resources wisely."