Results were mixed for Mahoning County school taxes.

Results were mixed for Mahoning County school taxes.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Voters' passage of the 0.5 percent Mahoning County sales tax is a positive step, but the county's money woes are far from over, said county Commissioner John McNally IV.
Voters passed the five-year sales tax Tuesday by approximately 58 percent to 42 percent, according to unofficial results released by the Mahoning County Board of Elections.
McNally thanked voters for their support but said a lot of work remains. Auditor George J. Tablack has said he expects the county to be in fiscal emergency this year even with a sales tax passage.
Merchants won't start collecting the sales tax until Oct. 1, and it won't start filtering into county coffers until Jan. 1, McNally said.
"We're not going to go out and start hiring people tomorrow or bringing people back from layoff," the commissioner said.
McNally said the county might be able to borrow money based on the money generated by the sales tax, but commissioners can't count on that.
"We need to continue on the path that we've been going," he said.
Sam Buck Matheny, co-chairman of the Committee for Our Future, a group formed to promote passage of the sales tax, credited a positive campaign and commissioners for the victory.
"The commissioners have restored trust and dignity to the office, and I think people are willing to give them a chance," Matheny said.
The tax will generate between $12 million and $14 million annually.
Elsewhere
News was not as good for Campbell, where 52 percent of the voters rejected a 5-mill property tax levy, or for the Struthers schools, where some 60 percent of the voters in that school district rejected an 8-mill levy.
Campbell Mayor John Dill said cuts to services should be expected.
"I don't know where we can cut," he said.
The city has been in state fiscal emergency since last June.
Dill couldn't offer theories on why voters said no. He said he conducted town-hall type meetings with senior citizens, church groups and other organizations to explain the need for the tax.
"I really got a good feeling about it," he said.
Dr. Sandra DiBacco, Struthers schools superintendent, expects the state to come in with a fiscal emergency declaration for the district.
"We're devastated," DiBacco said.
When a fiscal emergency declaration occurs, a state-appointed commission takes on fiscal oversight for a district, making decisions formerly handled by the local board.
"I don't know what more we can cut, but cuts will be made," the superintendent said.
A bond issue for Jackson-Milton and an income tax for West Branch schools both failed, while voters in the South Range and Campbell schools approved those districts' renewal levies.