SALES TAX RENEWAL Officials: Failure may mean cuts

The sheriff's department and juvenile court will be hardest hit if cuts are made.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- It's become almost routine, but it's not something they enjoy.
Mahoning County commissioners are sharpening their budget ax, hoping they don't have to use it.
For the sixth time in the last seven years, a 0.5 percent county sales tax is on the ballot. This one has been on the books since 1991. It expires Dec. 31 and commissioners are asking voters to renew it for another five years.
The county has another tax of the same amount that expires in December 2004. Combined, the two taxes bring in about $25 million a year. If the next month's renewal attempt is unsuccessful, "the consequences will be devastating," said Commissioner Ed Reese.
Massive budget cuts will be imposed, resulting in significant employee layoffs. Commissioners have not yet put a reduction plan on paper, but Reese said it won't be hard to do.
"We've been down this road before, so we know where the cuts will have to be made," he said.
Biggest departments
The sheriff's department, with an annual budget of $15.5 million, and the juvenile justice system, with an annual budget of $5.3 million, are the county's two largest big-ticket departments in the general fund. Together they account for half of the county's 700 full-time employees.
For that reason, they'll take the hardest hits if cuts must be made, said county Administrator Gary Kubic.
"It's kind of a simple process," Kubic said. "You have to go where the largest operations are."
The county has 11 other departments with annual budgets of $1 million or more. All departments will face budget reductions if the tax doesn't pass, Kubic said.
Reese said programs such as 4-H that receive county funding will also be among the first to go because the county is not obligated to pay for them.
Kubic said the county has already been working to tighten its belt over the past couple of years. Sales tax revenue and interest income from investments have either flat-lined or decreased because of the drowsy economy.
Using cash reserves
The county has been living off its cash reserves for some two years now.
In 1997, the county ended the year with a carryover balance of $9.4 million. It spiked up to $14.7 million in 1998, then dropped again to $8.3 million in 1999, $6 million in 2000, and finally to $3.7 million last year.
It's expected to dip below $3 million at the end of this year, and commissioners would like to hold it there.
But without the sales tax, that will be hard to do, Reese said.
Not all county residents are convinced that the county's need is as great as commissioners say it is.
"I find it hard to believe that the commissioners have cut costs to the bone," said Bill Johnson of Boardman. He complained that commissioners waste money funding the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport.
He also pointed to a trip Commissioner Vicki Allen Sherlock took earlier this year to Philadelphia, supposedly on a work-related fact-finding mission, but said Sherlock has shown no report of her findings.
"When they can show me that they are fiscally responsible, then I will agree to increase the sales tax," Johnson said.
Must overcome mistrust
Commissioners say they realize that a general mistrust of government is something they must work to overcome. They also are frustrated at the number of people, like Johnson, who think the measure on the ballot is an increase.
"It's been on the books for years. We are not asking for anything new," said Commissioner David Ludt. "All we want is to maintain what we have."
Other residents, like David Kornbau of Washingtonville, said the tax is fair because it's paid only by people who make purchases, even if they live in another county.
"Any tax is basically the government charging its citizens for the services it provides," Kornbau said. "Those voting against the tax should be considering exactly which services they would like to do without."