The county could face fiscal watch status in 2005 if a sales-tax levy fails.

The county could face fiscal watch status in 2005 if a sales-tax levy fails.
By WILLIAM K. ALCORN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Mahoning County commissioners decided unanimously today to place a 0.5 percent continuous sales-tax levy on the Nov. 2 general election ballot.
The proposed continuous sales-tax levy would replace a five-year levy that will expire Dec. 31.
A state financial forecast shows that Mahoning County faces projected deficits from 2005 to 2008 regardless of the outcome of a sales-tax levy in November.
Commissioners had to pass the resolution and get it to the county elections board by 4 p.m. Thursday, which is the filing deadline for tax issues to appear on the Nov. 2 ballot.
The county requested the financial forecast audit by Ohio Auditor Betty Montgomery in April.
The forecast indicates that if a levy does not pass in November, the general fund deficit is projected to reach about $70.5 million in 2008. If the levy passes, the county still faces a projected deficit of about $15.3 million in 2008.
What auditor says
County Auditor George Tablack said that if the levy fails, the deficit in four years would be double the annual income of the county and impossible to deal with.
Additionally, the forecast says the county could qualify for a fiscal-watch designation in 2005 if the sales-tax levy does not pass because the projected general fund deficit of about $12.6 million exceeds one-twelfth of the preceding year's forecasted revenues of $4.4 million.
The state auditor's office said that is one of the conditions constituting grounds for fiscal watch as defined by Ohio law.
Furthermore, even if the sales-tax levy passes, the county could qualify for fiscal watch in 2006, as the projected general fund deficit of about $5 million in 2006 exceeds one-twelfth of the projected revenues for 2005, which is $4 million.
Any future fiscal-watch declaration would come only after a fiscal analysis could be completed by Montgomery's office.
For the county to avoid these projected deficits, it will need to make difficult management decisions regarding potential means for increasing revenues and reducing expenditures, the auditor said.The half-percent tax that expires Dec. 31 generates about $13 million a year, which is about 25 percent of the county's annual general operating fund income.
Another separate 0.5 percent sales tax expires in 2007.