Mahoning government gets its financial act together — sort of

When Mahoning County Prosecutor Paul Gains explained the hefty pay raises he was giving his staff at the start of 2011, he pointed to one thing on the horizon that has come true.

Sales tax revenues for Mahoning County have perked up in 2011 compared with 2010.

Perked, not exploded, like his raises.

What’s also true about county revenues to date is that they, like the rest of our economy, remain engulfed in a funk. No one has any reason to spend more than what is necessary.

Some county revenue streams are up, but some are down.

And that appears to be the current trend with the county as it pertains to wages.

Though Gains and county Engineer Dick Marsico launched into 2011 with some pretty hefty pay raises for staff, pay raises in recent weeks have all but slowed to a trickle.

None of this, by the way, is any good news.

I state that for the benefit of all those who think The Vindicator is on an anti-government crusade. Far from it. We would love to see pay raises for all, and resulting sales-tax growth everywhere because we’d spend more, etc.

The stagnancy of public wages is, in the big picture, not a celebratory point.

Our effort is about ensuring public spending is in step with what’s going on in the private sector.

And even that probably deserves a qualifier:

I believe there is excessive pay, benefits and perks at the wealthiest levels of society, too, despite the bizarre charges that have been thrown our way. And, yes, tax laws have been bent and manipulated to suit them, too. Could Gov. John Kasich have hired some of his top folks for less? Sure. All that needs to get exposed, as well.

I think what both groups would like is for voices like ours to get caught in the crossfire and not put heat on anyone. Thus they can continue with what they’ve gotten away with — from courtrooms to college campuses to swanky, top-floor offices.

From May through mid-June, 70 raises were handed out to county staff. Of those:

40 were less than 1 percent.

10 were less than 2 percent.

Of the remaining raises, half of the people earned less than $35,000; the other half earned less than $45,000.

That’s a trend far removed from December and January. Commissioner John McNally IV expressed the same perception — there’s reality of late.

And given revenues, it’s wise.

Through May, the county is $1,058,469 stronger in sales tax revenues this year compared with the same time last year, according to state statistics. A month-by-month look at the 1 percent sales tax revenue shows:

May was up $64,997 — the smallest increase of the year.

April was up $385,869 — the best month of the year.

January and March were $270,882 and $210,324 respectively.

February was at $126,396.

Note that each month above reflects our spending from the previous month. So April’s great numbers were due to what we all spent in March. The promise from those revenues is countered with hits the county is taking in:

Lost interest income — projected to be down $500,000 for year.

State tax loss reimbursement — down $700,000 for the year.

And down $50,000 from the state’s local government fund.

The current county trend is far from rosy by many measures, but also in check by other measures.

One county worker’s summation of the situation was rather priceless:

“If government could just get its act together,” she said.

I thought that was my line.

Todd Franko is editor of The Vindicator. He likes emails about stories and our newspaper. E-mail him at tfranko@vindy.com. He blogs, too, on vindy.com.