Mahoning County officials must accept flat budgeting

As Mahoning County’s officeholders move through the budget hearing turnstiles, the word they need to see prominently displayed is “No.” There can’t be any misunderstanding of the message from commissioners Anthony T. Traficanti, David N. Ludt and John A. McNally IV and county Administrator George J. Tablack: No, you are not going to get a dime more than what you received this past fiscal year; and no, you are not going to let your employees get away with less than a 10 percent co-payment on health insurance premiums.

Given the fiscal reality in Mahoning County, the budget hearings are a mere formality. Officeholders will come before the commissioners bearing bloated budgets, and Traficanti el al will ask the same question over and over: Would you consider cuts if revenues continue to drop?

The answer must be an unequivocal yes. Any hesitation or argument, and the voters will express their anger by rejecting the renewal of a 0.5 percent sales tax in May. This is no longer a battle of wits between the commissioners and judges, sheriff and the other general fund departments.

The defeat of the half-percent sales tax on Nov. 3 was a warning to al officeholders: You embrace business-as-usual at your peril.

An easy exercise

That’s why the budget hearings should be concluded quickly and without any blood being spilled. Telling officeholders that they are not going to receive any more money than they did this year and, in fact, could be called upon to accept spending cuts should not take long.

This year will end with most of the monetary projections made at the beginning of 2009 being missed. The county budget commission had projected, for instance, that the two half-percent sales taxes would generate $28 million; Administrator Tablack said recently the final tally will be closer to $26 million.

Next year will be just as bad, if not worse.

Only an arrogant officeholder would attempt to flex his or her muscle in this environment.

Private-sector taxpayers cannot believe that county employees are not paying at least 10 percent of the premiums for the “Cadillac health care benefit plan,” in the words of Traficanti.

As to what the public expects from county government workers, Traficanti again is on the mark with this statement: “We need concessions. ... The public, I believe, wants to see a little more pain come from government workers.”

No pain, no gain — in voter support for the sales tax renewal.

The budget hearings now being conducted can serve as a megaphone for Mahoning County employees to tell the public, “We hear you.”