Rewards for county workers ignore area’s economic reality

Responding to The Vindicator’s coverage of pay raises and bonuses granted to Mahoning County government employees before and after last November’s passage of the 0.75-percent sales tax renewal/increase, Commissioner Anthony Traficanti offered this gem: A repeal of the tax “puts us back to the Stone Age.”

To which we say to Mr. Traficanti and the other officeholders who steadfastly defend the monetary enrichment of county employees: You’re must think we’re living in the Gilded Age. We’re not, which is why the calls for a referendum on the sales tax are getting louder.

Private sector taxpayers are tired of seeing their hard-earned dollars going for raises and bonuses. Evidence of the public’s aversion to what’s going on in government surfaced last November when the 0.75-percent sales tax renewal/increase passed by a meager 1,248 votes.

On the night of the general election, Commissioner David Ditzler contemplated the results — 33,890 for, 32,642 against — and acknowledged that he and his colleagues would have to prove to the taxpayers that they are good stewards of the public treasury.

Pay raises and bonuses aren’t good stewardship.

We have long given our strong editorial support to the commissioners with regard to the sales tax increases or renewals. Indeed, after the defeat of the 0.5-percent sales tax renewal last May, we took the position that county government not only needed the revenue from the half-percent tax, but also had a compelling case for the 0.25-percent increase.

We bought the argument put forth by commissioners Traficanti, Ditzler and Carol Rimedio-Righetti and Sheriff Jerry Greene that the criminal justice system was in dire need of additional funding.

There were promises made to us and to the voters, foremost of which was simply this: The $24 million to be generated by the 0.75-percent tax will not be an invitation for officeholders to go on a spending spree.

The two words that were repeatedly used by the commissioners and the county’s budget director, Audrey Tillis, were “status quo.”

We assigned the common meaning to those words. In retrospect, we should have insisted that the commissioners, the budget director, the sheriff and others tell us — and the public — what they meant.

Public pensions

It was not so long ago that 700 county workers received raises after officeholders decided to make them whole because they were being forced to pay their share of the public pension contribution. Before that, we the employers paid ours and the workers’ shares.

And it was just a couple of months ago when criminally embattled Auditor Michael Sciortino gave raises and bonuses to management and union employees as he was leaving office. Democrat Sciortino lost his re-election bid to Republican Ralph Meacham, a political newcomer.

Now, we have the front-page story that details the $165.000-plus in bonuses given to employees over the past five years.

Before county government apologists argue that the amount is a pittance when viewed against the 2015 general fund budget of $33 million, let us be clear: This isn’t only about the money.

It’s actually about the public sector ignoring the economic realities of this region. The Valley has lagged behind the rest of the state in recovering from the national economic recession, while the ongoing loss of population means that a growing percentage of the residents are on fixed incomes.

The mindset that dismisses The Vindicator’s in-depth coverage of the budget, in general, and the payroll, in particular, must change. Every business in the Valley has had to tighten its belt. Why not government?