Mahoning sales tax rejected

Chairman Traficanti says commissioners will try the issue again in May. The CSB and library levies passed.

By PETER H. MILLIKEN

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

YOUNGSTOWN — The Mahoning County sales-tax renewal failed, but children services and library renewal levies easily passed Tuesday by margins of about 2-1.

“We tried our best, but we’re going to put it back on in May as a renewal,” Commissioner Chairman Anthony T. Traficanti said as it became apparent the sales tax was going down to defeat Tuesday evening.

“Quite frankly, the way the ballot language read, as an additional tax, who in this economy would vote for an additional tax? And we’re definitely going to make sure that this does not happen in May,” he said at a subdued gathering of sales-tax supporters at Rachel’s in Austintown.

The measure on the ballot was a continuous renewal of the county’s 0.5 percent sales tax, which was Issue 4.

The county commissioners put the sales tax on the ballot as a continuous measure to ensure long-term reliability of county government income, Traficanti said.

Voters renewed the county’s other half-percent sales tax on a continuous basis in May 2007.

The confusion over ballot language likely hurt the tax, especially in early absentee voting, he said.

“The campaign begins tomorrow, and we’ll take the message back out to the people, but we want to definitely make sure that the ballot language says renewal,” he added.

The May election will be the last chance for passage to ensure uninterrupted collection of the tax, which expires Sept. 30, 2010, he said.

Traficanti noted that cutbacks, concessions and layoffs already have occurred in county government.

He said he’d have to discuss with his fellow commissioners, David N. Ludt and John A. McNally IV, whether any new cuts must immediately be made. “Cuts are ongoing. I don’t want to predict too much,” he said.

Each sales tax raises about $14 million annually for the county’s general fund, which is its main operating fund. The sales tax is the largest source of general-fund revenue.

Because of the recession, the county auditor projects this year’s general-fund revenue to be $59 million, compared with $67 million last year.

Dependent on the general fund are the sheriff’s department, prosecutor, courts, 911 center, elections board and many other county departments.

Some county officials, including Traficanti and county Prosecutor Paul J. Gains expressed concerns last month that incorrect ballot language could hurt the outcome of the sales-tax vote.

Traficanti, Gains and Commissioner David N. Ludt were angry that the ballot language said the tax would provide “additional general revenues.”

The board of elections suspended a clerk, Danielle O’Neill, for five days without pay for failing to follow board policy of submitting the ballot language to the commissioners and Gains for their review.

The elections board suspended O’Neill’s boss, Elections Director Thomas McCabe, for three days without pay over the matter.

Those suspensions will take effect in late November, after Tuesday’s election results are officially certified.

O’Neill failed to send ballot language to any political entity with a tax issue on Tuesday’s ballot.

The Ohio Secretary of State’s office certified the ballot language as an accurate reflection of the resolution passed by the commissioners and written by the county prosecutor’s office for the sales-tax issue.

The sheriff’s department is investigating to see if any criminal activity occurred with the failure to submit the ballot language to the commissioners and Gains.

Referring to Section 3505.14 of the Ohio Revised Code, Traficanti said state law clearly required submission of the proposed ballot language to the commissioners in advance of the election.

Officials of the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County were also concerned ballot language might hurt their 1-mill real-estate-renewal levy because the ballot question (Issue 6) called the library system by its rarely used formal name, the Reuben McMillan Free Library.

However, the ballot language didn’t seem to hurt that levy at all.

“I am extremely appreciative of the people of Mahoning County supporting the library. They obviously love it, which is wonderful. It helps solidify about a third of our budget so we can plan for the future,” library Director Carlton Sears said.

“I think people want us to keep the light on,” he said, echoing the library-levy campaign slogan. “Now we want to make it bright.”

However, he added: “We still have a really big challenge ahead to figure out how to make up for the loss of state funding, so we have to find a way to stabilize the way we operate.”

As to whether voters can expect to see an additional library levy on the ballot next year to fill that gap, Sears said only: “We’re updating a strategic plan, trying to figure out how to have a stable future going forward, and that’s something we’re going to be working on for the next several months.”

The library levy should bring in $3,622,000 annually if 100 percent collections could be achieved. It costs the owner of a $100,000 home about $27 a year. The library system’s budget is $11,715,455 this year.

State funding cuts forced the library system to cut hours by 15 percent in September and to conduct the first known layoffs of staff in its 129-year history. The system, which consists of the main library and 15 branches, laid off 27 employees this year, reducing its staff to 169.

Commissioner John A. McNally IV said the renewal would help the library maintain its reduced level of services.

At 100 percent collections, the Children Services Board five-year real-estate tax renewal (Issue 5) should generate $2,893,000 annually. CSB has $16 million to $17 million in annual expenses.

“We’re very grateful to the voters of Mahoning County, who continued to be supportive of our work with children and families,” said Denise Stewart, CSB executive director.

“When I talk to people about the work that our agency does, they’re aware of the need for our services, and they value and support our work with protecting children in our community,” she added.

Based on 2008 collections, property-tax levy revenues will likely run about 3 percent short of full collections due to delinquencies, the county auditor says.