Counties suggest higher sales tax to close gap

By Jim Siegel

Columbus Dispatch

COLUMBUS

Using words like “devastating,” local government leaders told lawmakers yesterday they are bearing too heavy a burden for the state’s budget woes, and it will force cuts in safety forces.

“Counties realize they’ve got to do their fair share,” said Larry Long, executive director of the County Commissioners Association of Ohio.

“But the problem we have is we think we are being asked to do too much.”

Among the suggestions Long had for helping counties cope with the losses is the ability to increase the sales tax by another 0.5 percent. Currently, counties are allowed to impose a sales tax of up to 1.5 percentage points above the state’s 5.5 percent rate for general budgetary purposes, and Long said 46 of 88 counties already have maxed out.

Franklin County taxes 0.75 percent for its budget. In central Ohio, Licking and Pickaway counties are maxed out.

Gov. John Kasich’s proposed $55.5 billion budget would cut local government funding by 25 percent per year, reducing it from $665 million this year to $339 million in 2013. If the current formula stayed in place, funding should increase by $555 million over two years, Long said.

Local governments would lose another $312 million by Kasich accelerating the phase out of reimbursements for lost tangible personal-property taxes.

Many officials hit on a similar theme: that though they anticipated local government fund cuts of up to 20 percent over two years, they were blindsided by the 50-percent cut on top of reduced property-tax reimbursements.

Kim Maggard, city auditor for Whitehall, said the city stands to lose $618,000 just from local government funds — an amount equal to its yearly budget for the police department’s dispatching and administrative clerks. “Something has got to give, and, unfortunately, it will be seen in services and safety to our citizens,” she said.

Eastlake Mayor Ted Andrzejewski pointed to his dwindling budget carry-over balance and said the cuts would cost his city $450,000 each of the next two years.

“I don’t know what we’re going to do guys,” he said. “Where are we going to cut? It’s going to come from police and fire. I’m not making that up to be dramatic.”

Long said the real problems will strike in 2012. Unlike state government, which runs on a fiscal year from July 1 to June 30, local government budgets run on a calendar year. The state local-government fund cut in calendar year 2011 would only be about 5 percent, he said, but it would grow to 31 percent in 2012, and then 33 percent in the first half of 2013.