Traficanti: County faces $3M more in cuts

By Peter H. Milliken

Sales tax receipts for January and February are down from a year ago.

YOUNGSTOWN — Mahoning County government is in the midst of a grave financial crisis, which is directly linked to the national recession, the chairman of the county commissioners says.

“Right now, we’re up against the wall, and I think everybody in this county and in this country understands the gravity and the nature of what’s going on in the United States. This is very serious,” Anthony T. Traficanti said after Thursday’s meeting of the county commissioners.

Noting that the county’s sales tax receipts for January and February are down, 3 percent and 9 percent, respectively, compared with the same months last year, Traficanti said the commissioners may have to cut general fund spending by more than $3 million this year.

Last year, $67.5 million was spent in the general fund, and that fund is expected to have between $62 million and $63 million available this year, according to George J. Tablack, county administrator and budget director. The general fund is the county’s main operating fund.

Traficanti said he hopes the county’s March sales tax receipts, which most fully reflect Christmas sales, will offset some of the losses in January and February.

Traficanti noted that the county administration is seeking concessions in the sheriff’s department and in the Department of Job and Family Services. “Everybody is going to have to pitch in. This is a crisis,” he said.

As to whether he’d set a leadership example by taking a pay cut, Traficanti said: “I’m willing to do anything I have to do to make this county function, and I hope my colleagues would follow suit.”

However, he said the commissioners’ office staff has already been reduced from 30 to 11 people since 2002. “We’re doing more with less, and I’m proud of that,” he added.

As for Wednesday’s on-air dispute between Tablack and County Auditor Michael V. Sciortino on WKBN radio 570, Traficanti said he has been told deputy sheriffs may provide affidavits supporting Tablack’s assertion that Sciortino tried to interfere in labor negotiations by offering his opinions concerning the county’s finances.

“I hope that’s not the case,” Traficanti said. “We’re trying to get concessions from the deputies. This is very serious, and, if somebody is interfering in that process, then they need to be called on the carpet because that’s going to cost the general fund a lot of money.”

“This issue is so utterly ridiculous that it’s laughable,” Sciortino said Thursday on the Louie Free show on WASN radio 1500.

“These were public documents. They have a right to know, and they have every right to protest or to question their leaders,” Sciortino said.

Sciortino also said this is a time for austerity in county government. “We all have to start thinking about concessions in addition to how we can do our jobs better, how we can collaborate and how we can work together,” he concluded.

milliken@vindy.com