BUDGET Short on funds, state increases service fees

Some people who will pay higher fees are taking the increases in stride.
STAFF/WIRE REPORTS
Some barbers might be raising the price of a haircut. Fees affecting the cost of barbers' licenses, their shops and their training schools are all rising.
Short on cash, the state raised dozens of fees to raise millions of dollars as part of the two-year budget that began Tuesday.
The increases are part of Ohio's $48.8 billion budget, which also includes a penny sales-tax increase. The state is also extending the sales tax to previously untaxed services such as dry cleaning, taxis and satellite TV.
Local reactions
"It's all right," local barber Don Swope said of the fee increases. "They've been fairly reasonable all of my career -- 40 years," he added. Swope, whose barbershop is on Market Street in Boardman, said he would absorb the increased costs and not raise the price of haircuts.
"They need more taxation. That's one of the ways they can get it without really hurting the barbers too bad," he said. "I'm just thankful that they aren't putting sales tax on barbers," he said.
Further down Market Street, Hi-Style Dry Cleaners, which began charging customers the 7-percent sales tax Tuesday, displayed a sign at the cash register concerning the tax. "As of July 1, we must add 7 percent sales tax to all unclaimed orders and orders being picked up. Any questions, call Gov. Taft," the sign says.
"As long as the people don't have a problem with it, neither do I," said Janet Culver, who works at Hi-Style. Her husband, Dan, owns the cleaners.
"It's a little more work for me and my accountant," she said of collecting the tax. She said she learned she would have to collect the tax beginning Tuesday from another dry cleaner who called her Monday morning.
Collecting the tax also forced the cleaners to obtain a vendor's license for the first time at a cost of $25 a year. "Once a month, I've got to send in the money that we've collected for the tax," she said.
Customers haven't complained about the tax, and some said they'd rather pay sales tax on dry cleaning than pay higher property taxes, she said. The tax will cause some customers to have their clothes dry-cleaned less frequently, she said. She added, however, "I don't think it's going to destroy us."
Some anti-tax lawmakers who voted against the budget opposed the fees. They echoed the sentiments of the Buckeye Institute, a Columbus think tank that advocates smaller government, which calls the fees "under the radar" taxation.
However, in most cases the state does not use the fees to balance the budget, said Tim Keen, assistant state budget director. Instead, they pay the cost of state regulation of various agencies.
Some were the result of the tight budget, Keen said. Others would have been in the budget regardless of the state's financial condition, he said.
The state couldn't say Monday exactly how much money the fees will raise over two years.
An exception
One exception is an increase in liquor permit fees, which will provide about $9 million a year to help pay for increased funding for state alcohol and drug abuse programs.
An increase in court costs will raise about $8 million a year. It will pay for increased funding to the state public defender to represent people who can't afford attorneys.
In addition, a doubling of the average $15.38 fee paid to record real estate transactions will raise at least $50 million a year for a trust fund to provide housing for poor and moderate-income Ohioans.
Hunting and fishing licenses will rise from $14 to $18 a year, and people over the age of 66 -- who used to receive free licenses -- will pay half price.
"It's keeping up with inflation, but I would like to see the seniors, 66 and older, still be able to hunt and fish for no fees," said Swope, who hunts in his spare time.
Special permits, such as hunting deer or wild turkey, rise from $20 to $23. The increases were backed by the League of Ohio Sportsmen, which represents 200,000 hunters, anglers and bird-watchers.
The increase is the first in 10 years for hunting and fishing licenses, said Randy Miller, Ohio Division of Wildlife assistant chief. In the meantime, the demand for services has increased.
"You're probably not going to find very many things that stayed the same price for 10 years," Miller said.