State to commissioners: Cut expenses or raise taxes | Fincance ...

Local government leaders around Ohio have been told by the Kasich administration that they have tools at their disposal to deal with declining state funding. they can cut services or raise taxes. at a Tuscarawas County Chamber of Commerce legislative luncheon Thursday at Union Country Club, Commissioner Jim Seldenright recounted a meeting of the County Commissioners Association of Ohio with a representative from the office of Gov. John Kasich. the representative said the Kasich administration provided counties with a tool to balance their budgets, Senate bill 5. That bill, passed earlier this year by the Republican-controlled Legislature, restricts collective bargaining for public employees in Ohio. however, SB5 is the subject of a referendum Nov. 8. ?how can you plan for a budget when you don?t know if Senate bill 5 will go through?? Seldenright asked. Commissioner Chris Abbuhl said commissioners were also told at the CCAO meeting that they could eliminate services or find new revenue sources as the Kasich administration will not be raising taxes to help out. using a slide presentation, commissioners outlined for 60 area business the challenges they face in crafting a balanced budget. Local Government Funds from the state have been declining in recent years, commissioners said. In the first six months of 2012, Tuscarawas County is slated to received $700,000. during the second half of the year, that amount will be cut to $370,000. Commissioners anticipate that Local Government Funds will be completely eliminated in the next biennial budget. ?That?s the direction we see coming, and that?s the direction we as commissioners need to plan on,? Commissioner Kerry Metzger said. at the same time, low interest rates have cut into the county?s investment income. In 2007, the county earned $2.7 million. Abbuhl said the county will likely make less than $220,000 this year. ?none of us could ever imagine we?d see interest rates this low,? Seldenright said. but there is also positive news for county finances. Abbuhl said sales tax receipts this year will likely be around $9.5 million ? a record. Commissioners attribute that to the area?s oil and gas boom, success of the county?s tourism industry, opening of the Performing Arts Center at Kent State University at Tuscarawas and area businesses doing better. but Metzger noted, ?the sales tax will not be able to make up for the losses.? In their presentation, commissioners also discussed the region?s oil and gas boom. Abbuhl said there is an estimated $20 billion in oil and gas reserves in eastern Ohio. Seldenright said the county has been approached by individuals asking for a ban on hydraulic fracturing, the method used to extract oil and gas from the Marcellus and Utica Shale formations underlying eastern Ohio. he said the county does not have the ability to do that. ?We can?t stop it,? he said. ?It?s something that?s going to happen. We have to trust the state to protect us.? bill Harding, the Chamber?s legislative committee chair, said the meeting provided valuable information to area business leaders. ?so many people don?t have an idea of the breadth and width of the responsibilities that commissioners have,? he said.

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State to commissioners: Cut expenses or raise taxes

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