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Valley voters to decide 80 tax issues, several judgeships
and Ed Runyan
YOUNGSTOWN
In addition to Mahoning Valley voters’ making decisions on the president, U.S. senator, U.S. House members, Ohio legislators and county candidates this fall, they’ll also be deciding the fate of 80 tax issues.
The 80 tax issues for the Nov. 6 ballot are much more than the 53 local tax issues from the last presidential year, 2008, and more than the 66 tax issues on the 2010 general election ballot.
“The budget difficulties Ohio has been going through the past couple of years has [caused the state] to cut money that flows to local government,” said Paul Sracic, chairman of Youngstown State University’s political science department. “Some of these taxes proposed by local and county governments and school boards is to make up some of that lost revenue.”
In Mahoning County, the number of tax issues in the general election jumped from 15 in 2008 to 27 for this ballot.
In Trumbull County, it went from 17 in 2008 to 34 this year.
Columbiana County has been steady with 21 issues in 2008, 20 in 2010 and 19 for this fall’s election.
Also, there are 17 replacement or additional tax levies for police and fire services on the November ballot for a continuous period of time instead of for a set number of years.
If those issues pass, they don’t ever have to be placed in front of voters again.
That includes three replacement levies for fire services that would raise $2,230,483 in Austintown.
Only Judge Scott D. Hunter of Boardman is facing opposition among the three Mahoning County Court judges running for re-election.
Heidi Hanni of Boardman is challenging Judge Hunter.
In Trumbull County, two of the more unusual issues on the ballot this November will be in Brookfield.
The school board is asking voters to approve a 1 percent income tax for the district that would raise $1.4 million per year for five years.
The Brookfield Township trustees, meanwhile, are asking voters for a new levy that will benefit the Brookfield police and fire departments.
A combined levy for police and fire is unique in Trumbull County, an elections board official said.
An additional candidate has filed to run for the seat as judge for the Eastern District Court in Brookfield.
In addition to Atty. Randil J. Rudloff of Cortland, who filed earlier, Atty. Robert Platt Jr. of Cortland has filed to run for the seat being vacated by Judge Ronald Rice.
Judge Ronald Rice is unopposed on the ballot to replace Judge John M. Stuard of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court.
The impending vacancy on the Eastern District Court prompted Judge Thomas Campbell of Central District Court to seek a merger of the courts in Cortland and Brookfield.
Two bills introduced at the Ohio Legislature have proposed abolishing the Brookfield position and merging it with the judgeship of the Central District court in Cortland.
State Rep. Tom Letson, D-64th of Warren, said both pieces of legislation are still pending and could still become law, despite the passing of the deadline to file for Eastern District Court judge.
One of the bills would set the election date for the merged judgeship in 2013. The other would set the election date in 2017.