Sunday, November 23, 2014
The tally of the votes cast in the Mahoning County sales tax renewal/ increase issue Nov. 4 has not even been certified, but already the dreaded (from the vantage point of private-sector taxpayers) “R” word is being bandied in the courthouse. Each time “raise” appears in news stories, voters are left to wonder if they were sold a bill of goods by county officials who sought support for the 0.75 percent sales tax.
Of the amount, 0.5 percent was a renewal, while the 0.25 percent was portrayed as essential for the safety of the public. Indeed, the tax, with a five-year expiration date, is dedicated to public safety and will fund the sheriff’s department, the prosecutor’s and coroner’s offices and the 911 dispatch center.
Despite an aggressive election campaign led by Sheriff Jerry Greene, the tax barely passed. The 1.8 percent margin — 50.9 to 49.1 percent — speaks volumes about residents’ view of county government, in particular, and government, in general.
Had voters been told beforehand that sheriff’s deputies are in line for pay increases and that Prosecutor Paul Gains wants to boost his employees’ salaries, the sales-tax issue would have gone down in flames.
Indeed, in making a pitch for the public’s support — The Vindicator strongly endorsed the issue not only in the general election, but in the May primary, when the 0.5 percent sales tax renewal was rejected — county Commissioners Anthony Traficanti, Carol Rimedio-Righetti and David Ditzler made it clear that without the money from the 0.75 percent tax, county government would be facing dire fiscal circumstances.
Traficanti, Rimedio-Righetti and Ditzler, along with county budget Director Audrey Tillis, said they were looking to stabilize government’s operation by pursuing a guaranteed funding source for the next five years. The other 0.5 percent sales tax is permanent.
There was no discussion about pay raises before the election, and after the issue barely passed Nov. 4, Tillis warned department heads not to go hog wild just because additional money will be coming into the public coffers.
The pay raises that sheriff’s deputies could receive if a conciliator finds they are justified, and the increases Gains wants for his employees have landed like a ton of bricks on supporters of the sales tax renewal/increase.
The Editorial Board of The Vindicator gave county officials the benefit of the doubt and urged residents to vote yes in the belief that they would be good stewards of the public dollars. Fattening the wallets of well-paid government workers (compared with what the average private-sector taxpayer earns) isn’t good stewardship.
The commissioners, who control the general fund, must find a way of stopping the raid on the treasury.
Voters said ‘no’
Traficanti, Rimedio-Righetti and Ditzler would be well advised to remember that the voters rejected the sales tax renewal in May after The Vindicator revealed that 700-plus employees had received raises of more than 3 percent.
Residents were particularly incensed about county employees being rewarded with increases to make up for their finally having to pay the employee share of the public-pension contributions. Prior to that, the taxpayers picked up the tab for the employer and employee shares of the contributions.
Incidentally, state law now prohibits governments to use such budgetary sleight-of-hand.
It’s obvious that county workers who believe it’s their God-given right to get a raise haven’t learned that the taxpayers aren’t in a giving mood.
Voters approved the sales tax renewal/ increase issue because the commissioners and others said the money was needed to maintain the services now being provided. There was no mention of more money being funneled into the pockets of public employees.