COLUMBIANA CO. Panel explains need for rise in sales tax

The public can again question commissioners at a public hearing Thursday.
By NANCY TULLIS
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
LISBON -- As long as a 1 percent sales tax is in effect, commissioners won't ask for property tax revenue to fund county government.
They made that promise Monday during a public hearing to explain the need for a 0.5 percent sales tax increase and to answer the public's questions about it.
The session lasted nearly 21/2 hours, with the press and about 18 residents present.
Members of the public asked commissioners why they were asking for an increase in sales tax after voters approved a 1 percent sales tax in 2000.
They said county officials should do as they must in their own households: Less income means belt-tightening.
Commissioners will have their regular meeting at 9 a.m. Thursday, followed by another public hearing on the proposed increase.
The county recently borrowed about $1.1 million to help fund operations through the end of the year.
Commissioners had to assemble a conservative, $12.1 million spending plan this year because the revenue from the county's 1 percent sales tax, restored in November 2000, would not start coming in until April.
Forgoing property tax: Commissioners gave up about $2.5 million annually in choosing to forgo 2 mills of property tax to induce voters to pass the sales tax.
Commissioner Dave Cranmer said commissioners fear the county will be placed in fiscal emergency if more revenue is not generated.
"I don't want Columbiana County to again be a picture postcard of county government gone wrong," Cranmer said, a reference to the 1993 scandal in which former county Treasurer Ardel Strabala illegally invested nearly $10 million of county money through his son, who did not have a license to sell securities.
The county recovered about $5.3 million, but the $4.6 million considered lost comes out of county coffers in monthly installments.
When questioned about the scandal Monday, commissioners said about $29,000 must be set aside each month through 2007 to pay back the loss.
Other options: Among the options commissioners have would be to impose a 0.5 percent increase or to ask voters to approve it in the May primary election.
Commissioners have said a 0.5 percent would generate about $3.3 million for a 12-month period, but if the measure is placed before voters in May, tax collection would not begin until July.
Without a tax increase, county revenues next year are expected to be about $12.7 million, but departmental budget requests and other obligations require the county to spend about $16.7 million, about a $4 million deficit, commissioners said.