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Voters to have say on 3 tax levies
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John McNally IV
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Mahoning County Commissioner Anthony Traficanti
Issue 4 is a countywide sales tax, and Issues 5 and 6 are property taxes.
YOUNGSTOWN — Mahoning County’s voters will see three countywide tax renewal issues on the Nov. 3 election ballot.
Issue 4 is the county’s half-percent sales tax, which will be on the ballot as a continuous measure.
Issue 5 is the county Children Services Board’s 1-mill, five-year real estate tax.
Issue 6 is a 1-mill, five-year real estate tax for operations and maintenance at the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County. The levy will appear on the ballot under the library’s formal name, the Reuben McMillan Free Library Association.
All three levies expire Dec. 31, 2010, and were placed on the ballot for renewal by the county commissioners.
“The sales tax measure is vital to the continued operation of county government,” said Commissioner John A. McNally IV, who urged passage of all three levies.
McNally said he is “very confident” that all three tax renewals will pass. “I think the voters in our community are willing to continue to pay what they have been paying in the past to make sure that they have efficient services delivered to them,” he said.
The commissioners put the sales tax on the ballot as a continuous measure to ensure long-term reliability of county government income, said Anthony T. Traficanti, chairman of the commissioners.
The commissioners put it on the Nov. 3 ballot because, if it fails, it can be returned to the ballot in May, Traficanti said. The renewal must pass next month or in May to ensure uninterrupted collection of the tax.
The voters renewed the county’s other half-percent sales tax on a continuous basis in May 2007.
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.
Due to 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.
The Children Services levy is one of three local property tax levies, which together supply half of CSB’s $16 million to $17 million annual operating expenses. The other levies are 0.85- and 0.5-mill taxes. The other half of CSB’s budget comes from state and federal funds.
Due to state budget cuts, the local levies are critical for the child welfare agency’s function, said Denise Stewart, CSB director.
“The workers do a great job trying to protect those young folks in our society that sometimes are abused and neglected,” McNally said.
If 100 percent collections could be achieved, the CSB levy should generate $2,893,000 annually, said Anthony Magnetta, real estate accounting manager in the county auditor’s office. Based on 2008 collections, that number should be reduced by about 3 percent to account for delinquencies, he said.
“Keep the light on,” is the slogan for the campaign to renew the library system’s only local levy. Campaign co-chairmen are Thomas Carney, a former county commissioner, and Clarence Smith, a library board member.
At 100 percent collections, the library levy should bring in $3,622,000 annually, Magnetta said. At that amount, it costs the owner of a $100,000 home about $27 a year, library officials said.
The revenue estimates for the 1-mill levies of CSB and the library differ because the effective tax rate varies depending on such factors as when the levy passed and whether it was replaced, Magnetta noted. The library passed a replacement levy in 2005.
The library system’s budget is $11,715,455 this year.
If its levy isn’t renewed, the library system will be left with only state funds, which have been declining sharply in recent years, said Carlton Sears, library director.
The library system, which consists of the main library and 15 branches, got $11 million in state funds in 2001, but expects to receive only $6.7 million from that source next year, Sears said.
The state funding cuts forced the library system to make a 15 percent cut in library hours last month and implement this year its first known layoffs since the system’s founding in 1880. The system laid off 27 employees, reducing its staff to 169.
“This renewal will help them maintain services, even though it’s a decreased level of services because of all the cuts from the state,” McNally said.
Library levy supporters have scheduled a “Lights Out Read In” levy campaign for 5 p.m. Oct. 28 at the main library. At 5:30, the lights will be turned out for 15 minutes, and participants will read books by flashlight to symbolize the lost hours of library service.
milliken@vindy.com