Girard, Columbiana County get reality check from voters

By any measure, governments in the city of Girard and Columbiana County have been good stewards of the public treasury. They've had to be. When you operate on a shoe-string budget, you don't have the luxury of excessive or unnecessary spending.
And yet residents of Girard and Columbiana County aren't willing to give the mayor and city council and the commissioners the benefit of the doubt. In Tuesday's general election, a 0.25 percent income tax increase to staff and operate the Girard Police Department was rejected by a vote of 1,763 to 1,388, while a 0.5 percent additional sales and use tax in Columbiana County was turned down 18,218 to 11,034.
Voters were clearly unimpressed with the gloomy scenarios laid out by the officeholders. In Girard, they didn't even care that the 0.25 percent income tax increase was sought by the state commission overseeing the city's economic recovery as a result of government being placed in fiscal emergency. In Columbiana County, a warning that without the 0.5 percent sales tax the operating budget would be $6 million short next year fell on deaf ears.
What's going on? Voter distrust -- which can be found in community after community in the Mahoning Valley.
Elected officials have an extremely high bar to clear if they hope to have any chance of persuading taxpayers that public dollars aren't being squandered.
The failure of the income tax increase in Girard is particularly disturbing because if residents aren't won over by the city's being in fiscal emergency, it would appear there is nothing Mayor James Melfi and city council can do to change the minds of the majority.
Girard's general fund has an $805,000 deficit -- down from $2.4 million in 2001 when fiscal emergency was declared -- even with budget cuts across the board. Given the revenue and expenditure projections, the city's books will be in balance by 2011. Had the tax passed -- it would have generated at least $400,000 a year -- the recovery would have occurred a lot sooner.
Good politics
Earmarking the revenue generated by the tax for the police department not only seemed to be good politics, but was a recognition on the part of Mayor Melfi and members of council that residents, at the very least, deserve basic services, such as police and fire protection.
Unfortunately, voters who rejected the income tax issue were unable to set aside the negative attitudes they have about government.
It is clear that Melfi and lawmakers have an enormous challenge ahead of them. They must change the mindset of the people if they are to have any chance of passing the tax increase.
Likewise, in Columbiana County, commissioners Jim Hoppel, Sean Logan and Gary Williams are going to have to come up with an argument for the sales tax that is so compelling, the voters would be hard-pressed to say no.
What is that argument? It's anybody's guess. Taxpayers in Columbiana County were well aware of the anticipated $6 million shortfall in the 2006 operating budget if the tax were rejected. It would have replaced a 0.5 percent sales tax that expired Aug. 31.
Taxpayers also were not swayed by a report from county Auditor Nancy Milliken that government faces the loss of $9.4 million in tax and federal revenue over the next few years.
Thus the question: What do taxpayers want to hear to persuade them to support increased funding for county government? Based on Tuesday's election results, the answer can be found in one word: Nothing.
But commissioners cannot throw up their hands and give up. They must find a way of connecting with the people.