2018 county budget requests in line with 2017 numbers

By Justin Wier | November 14, 2017 at 12:00a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

Mahoning County departments have requested about $67 million in revenue from the general and justice funds for 2018, which represents a slight increase over 2017 numbers.

As the county begins its budget hearings for 2018, officials said they will prepare for the loss of revenue from the Medicaid managed-care organization tax, which brought about $4.5 million into the county annually.

Audrey Tillis, the county commissioners’ executive director, said: “2018 is going to be a planning year ... to see what we do going forward.”

After a ruling by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the state had to expand the MCO tax to non-Medicaid MCOs or eliminate it. Ohio stopped collecting the tax effective July 1.

State lawmakers provided transition aid that will help county governments through the end of fiscal year 2018 – Mahoning County will receive about $5.2 million for the fourth quarter of 2017 and 2018 – but nothing concrete exists beyond that.

“We want to use it sparingly,” Tillis said of the transition aid. “We want to save as much as we can going in to 2019 if possible.”

The MCO tax comprised 10.2 percent of the county’s sales-tax revenue.

Througout the state, it represented $209 million or 8.2 percent of all county and transit authority sales tax revenues, according to the County Commissioners Association of Ohio.

Of the $67 million requested by county departments in 2018, $37.1 million is from the general fund and $29.8 million from the criminal and administrative justice fund.

Last year the county appropriated $36.3 million from the general fund and $29.3 million from the justice fund.

The 2018 numbers represent a 2.1 percent increase in the general fund and 1.7 percent in the justice fund.

The commissioners met Tuesday with Judge Robert Rusu of Mahoning County Probate Court.

His department requested $49,253, or 4.4 percent, less in 2018 than 2017.

Commissioners will meet with other departments on Wednesday and Thursday.