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Locals Address Proposed State Cuts at Meigs Meeting
By: Susan Tebben
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Local government leaders from around the region had the chance to address Columbus representatives last night in Meigs County on the proposed state budget.
The meeting was organized by the Meigs County Commissioners, and was convened to specifically address a sales tax that will go away as part of the proposed budget.
The Medicaid managed care tax was a tax that counties around the region received, but under the new budget, that revenue would be gone.
The cut equates to a nearly $580,000 loss for Meigs County. County Commissioner Randy Smith said that represents a loss of about 10 percent of Meigs County’s operating budget.
“That could literally (affect) everything in the county, from courthouse services…to cuts to staff,” Smith said.
Athens County stands to lose almost $850,000 in the managed care tax, according to 2015 sales tax numbers distributed at the meeting.
Gallia County could lose nearly $600,000 in managed care tax if the proposed budget goes through unchanged, and Jackson County could see a loss of more than $750,000.
State Representatives Ryan Smith (R-Bidwell) and Jay Edwards (R-Nelsonville) were on hand for the “listening session,” as Ryan Smith called it. He said, as a Gallipolis native, he understood the concerns of the government leaders, and was working to make their concerns heard in a climate where most small Ohio towns are struggling.
“I don’t like the (economy) situation we’re in right now, but it’s the one we’re in right now,” Smith said. “We’re going to do what we can.”
Ryan Smith is a member of the Ohio House Finance Committee, but Edwards is only months into his representative position, and told the audience in Pomeroy that he was there to learn.
“I can promise you that we’re working on (the budget),” Edwards said. “Don’t be overalarmed by what’s been proposed but also be prepared that there are going to be changes.”
Questions about many parts of the proposed budget came up during the two-hour meeting, including the distribution of the local government funding to small towns.
Meigs County Commissioner Tim Ihle called into question the distribution of the Local Government Fund based on population.
“It doesn’t seem like it’s distributed by the number of dirt roads we have or the number of culverts we have to repair,” Ihle said.
Ryan Smith said the distribution method for the Local Government Fund hasn’t changed much since its inception in the 1930s, but the newly proposed method would “greatly benefit” residents of Southeast Ohio.
He said the new method distributes the fund based on “capacity,” meaning property values and average income of the counties, villages and cities.
Officials were quick to point out that the local government funds are separate from the managed care tax funds.
“That tax is not included in the bucket of (local government) money,” said Brad Cole, managing director for research at the County Commissioners Association of Ohio.
Amesville Mayor Gary Goosman brought up the loss to school districts in the proposed budget, specifically Federal Hocking School District, the district in which Amesville Elementary resides.
Goosman said the economics of rising out of poverty, which is prevalent in Southeast Ohio, “relies on education.”
Members of other Athens County and Meigs County villages and townships, along with members of the Gallia County Commissioners, spoke during the meeting, saying they’ve survived cuts before, but more cuts would seriously inhibit services like already-strapped fire and police.
“We can’t afford more cuts,” said Scott Carrigan, chief of the Scipio Township Volunteer Fire Department. “We have a truck at Scipio that’s as old as me, 28 years old.”
Carrigan also said the loss of emergency responders in even small areas like Scipio will start affecting other things, like fighting the drug epidemic that all in the room agreed was one of the biggest issues in the region.
Many government leaders asked questions about the effect the proposed budget cuts would have on grant funding, a necessary funding source for Southeast Ohio areas with the loss of state and federal funding.
Racine Mayor Scott Hill said grants fund things his area needs, not what they want.
“We’ve got worn out equipment for worn out equipment and we don’t have a truck to carry it,” Hill said.
Meigs County Commissioners said they would take the information from the meeting to draft a resolution expressing their opinions and ideas on the budget. Representatives Edwards and Ryan Smith said they would take what they heard back to Columbus to bolster their discussions.
“I think there’s a lot of people that just don’t understand Southeast Ohio and Appalachia, so I think this will just build on that and show them some of the issues we have,” Edwards said.