Commissioners plan 2 public hearings on sales tax

The commissioners say they must begin to make spending cuts soon.
By D.A. WILKINSON
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
LISBON -- Columbiana County commissioners will have public hearings to place a sales tax before voters but haven't decided exactly what they will do.
The commissioners will have hearings at the courthouse at 6 p.m. May 31 and 10:30 a.m. June 7.
Commissioner Chairman Sean Logan said Wednesday that the board has to have the hearings if it places a 0.5-percent tax on either the August or November ballots.
Voters renewed a 1-percent sales tax last year, but last November and earlier this month rejected the 0.5-percent tax, which brings in about $4 million a year. The two sales taxes are the most the county can collect.
County efforts to save money in case either tax was defeated helped the county start 2006 with a higher than normal balance. The commissioners have postponed paying most of the county's bill this year for juvenile services through a multicounty agency. The bill varies, depending on use, but it can reach $1 million a year.
County officials are also trying to find ways to use special funds, such as fees, to cover operating costs. But once those funds are used, the county may enter 2007 in worse financial shape.
Bills are piling up
The commissioners now say that bills are mounting so fast they must begin cuts soon.
"We either have to have additional revenue or additional cuts," Logan said.
The county is creating a committee to help reduce workers' compensation claims. By creating a policy to provide drug-free work-force testing, such as after an accident, the county could save $397,000 a year.
"We're taking advantage of everything we can take advantage of," Logan said.
But the commissioners haven't agreed on their course of action.
Logan said that in August, the county would have to earmark the sales-tax funds for specific purposes. One of them is for incarceration. The sales tax could be used to fund the county's share of the multicounty system, and the $3.2 million annual cost of running the jail.
Commissioner Jim Hoppel indicated he was not in favor of the special election, which could cost the county about $51,000.
Time to collect?
Commissioner Gary Williams said that it may be time for the county to begin to collect inside millage it had agreed to stop collecting several years ago in order to get the sales tax passed initially. That move cost the county $3.2 million a year.
Williams said he hears voters complain about the new county municipal court that is being paid for with court fees, the new Emergency Management Agency building that was paid for by a utility company and grants, and a scandal in the county treasurer's office that happened 12 years ago.
But Williams said, "Something has to be done."
The county's financial uncertainty was one reason the commissioner's clerk, Tracy Allen, announced her resignation to take a job with the expanding Buckeye Water District.
Allen also said another reason she was leaving was that she served as both clerk to the commissioners and the county's human resource officer who fielded insurance questions from county workers. She said the positions should be handled by two people.
wilkinson@vindy.com