Trumbull commissioners earn cheers for ‘no’ vote on tax hike

It’s always risky to compliment elected officials in the Mahoning Valley because history has shown that today’s political hero can easily become tomorrow’s villain. However, when officeholders do something so unusual — such as listening to the people — fairness dictates that we acknowledge their good deed.

And so it is that we tip our hats to Trumbull County Commissioners Dan Polivka, Frank Fuda and Mauro Cantalamessa for deciding not to (you read that right, not to) impose a 0.25-percent increase in the county sales-tax rate.

The decision last week by Polivka, Fuda and Cantalamessa was prompted by the overwhelming negative public reaction during two hearings on the issue. Although the three officeholders made a persuasive case for the increase — county government is facing an imploding operating budget — residents who expressed their opinions were adamant that options should be explored.

Among the suggestions was for a top-to-bottom review of spending to be undertaken by experienced, independent examiners. There also were calls for a performance audit conducted by the Ohio Auditor’s Office.

The commissioners’ decision not to impose the tax was announced at a news conference, during which Polivka said county officials will undertake an “additional review” of the county’s finances. He left open the door to a performance audit, which could cost the county money, a citizens committee financial review or some other action.

Adrian Biviano, Trumbull County auditor, said he and the commissioners would “watch the budget carefully” throughout the year.

Those and other comments made during the press conference show that county officials are paying attention to the people who foot the bill for government to stay in business.

Mahoning County

Public accountability in Trumbull County stands in sharp contrast to what has been going on in Mahoning County, where some officials have been spending money like it’s going out of style.

The latest insult was detailed in a news story on Page A3 of Friday’s Vindicator. The headline, “Eight-year wage freeze at CSB ends with 18% raise for workers,” hit The Vindicator’s Editorial Board like a ton of bricks. That’s because we strongly endorsed the passage of a 1.85-mill, five-year real-estate levy in last November’s election. It replaced two other levies, and while the millage remains the same, it generates about $2.8 million more than what the Mahoning County Children Services Board was taking in with the two original levies.

In total, the agency will be raking in $7.3 million a year.

We were swayed by all the arguments put forth by CSB Executive Director Randall Muth, especially his contention that state aid has fallen 13.71 percent since 2011, and federal assistance has dropped 4.72 percent in that period.

There was no mention in any of the news stories prior to the November general election that agency employees would be in line for pay raises if county voters approved the replacement levy.

And there certainly wasn’t any talk about a whopping 18 percent hike in the first year to make up for the eight-year freeze.

Had Muth been open about the windfall for CSB employees, we would have reassessed our support for the levy.

The Vindicator has a long history of supporting social service agencies in the region that provide assistance to those in our community who are less fortunate or are unable to care for themselves.

In our editorial in support of the CSB levy we offered this observation: “... the agency has proved it is no spendthrift.”

It was prompted by the narrative of how the agency managed to keep its head above water while funding from the state and federal governments was being cut.

Long list of indignities

But the CSB act is just the latest in a long list of indignities suffered by a trusting public.

When Mahoning County voters approved a 0.75 percent sales tax renewal/increase in November, there was the expectation, based on comments from Commissioners Anthony Traficanti, Carol Rimedio-Righetti and David Ditzler, Sheriff Jerry Greene (he was the face of the sales tax campaign), and budget Director Audrey Tillis that the money generated would be used to maintain the “status quo” in the criminal justice system.

However, it wasn’t long before pay raises and bonuses were granted to some management and union employees by outgoing Auditor Michael Sciortino, and raises were ordered for sheriff’s deputies by a conciliator brought in to resolve the impasse in contract talks.

Last year, The Vindicator revealed that 700 county employees received pay raises to make up for the money they lost when they began paying their share of pension contributions. And over the past several years, employees in various departments have received bonuses.

Will this violation of public trust ever end?