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Mahoning officials OK tourism promotions
YOUNGSTOWN
The Mahoning County commissioners approved five resolutions totaling $64,025 Thursday for print and online advertising to promote tourism here in a variety of publications.
The largest of the agreements is a $45,000 deal with Great Lakes Publishing for advertising in various 2016 publications.
Other agreements include a $1,975 deal with the Columbus Dispatch for advertising in its 2016 Best Driving Vacations guide and a $5,075 deal for ads in the Ohio Golf Guide, the Bridgestone Golf Publication and Vintage Ohio.
All of the money to pay for the advertising comes from the county’s hotel and motel bed-tax revenues, which are the sole source of support for the county’s Convention and Visitors’ Bureau.
The CVB spends about $100,000 a year on advertising. So far this year, bureau revenues have totaled $439,046.
“We focus on the magazines that are geared towards people interested in traveling,” said Linda Macala, CVB director.
“The emphasis is: ‘We’re a wonderful place to come for a weekend getaway,’” she said.
The CVB promotes local museums, golf courses and wineries and Mill Creek Park, she noted. “All of that bundles into a great weekend getaway,” she explained.
In other business, the commissioners awarded a $155,066 contract to Craig Edward Susany Inc. of North Lima for the Miley Road waterline extension project in Beaver Township.
The engineer’s estimate for that job was about $238,000, said Audrey Tillis, county budget director.
In an earlier staff meeting, Tillis told the commissioners total departmental budget requests exceeded by about $1.1 million the $34.1 million budget commission certification of general fund revenue.
The budget commission consists of the county auditor, treasurer and prosecutor.
As part of a budget balancing strategy, Tillis proposed funding some items through other sources and using some carryover money to help the board of elections pay for the 2016 presidential election.
“We’re going to make sure the election process is not impeded in any way,” Tillis said.
Tillis said she expects the general fund carryover from 2015 to 2016 to be less than $1 million.
The county has $1.8-million in a separate rainy day fund.
The four departments in the criminal justice fund have collectively requested $373,586 less than the $28,065,720 the budget commission has certified as that fund’s 2016 revenue.
Tillis said she expects no carryover in the justice fund, which includes the sheriff’s, coroner’s and prosecutor’s offices and 911 center.
The extra quarter-percent sales tax the voters approved last year is necessary to fill a $6 million budget shortfall that would have occurred without it, Tillis said.
That shortfall would have resulted from state funding cuts, reduced investment income and reduced revenue from housing federal inmates in the county jail in recent years, Tillis said.
“There could have been layoffs, chaos in the county, if it wasn’t for that” additional sales tax, said Anthony Traficanti, chairman of the commissioners.
Tillis said she expects the commissioners to adopt the 2016 budget Thursday. State law requires them to do so by Dec. 31.