SIDNEY — Five important organizations in Shelby County face possibly major cuts in funding if the state budget is not amended during conference committee deliberations in Columbus.

In Auglaize County, across-the-board cuts are in the offing.

Versions of the state budget have been passed in both the Ohio Senate and the Ohio House of Representatives. Now, the bill is in the hands of the conference committee, who will craft a compromise version that can be passed by both houses of the legislature.

What has commissioners in 86 Ohio counties, including Shelby and Auglaize, concerned is that the neither version of the budget adequately addresses the loss of what is known as the MCO sales tax.

Shelby County Commissioner Julie Ehemann spoke to the Ohio Senate Finance Committee earlier this month:

“Ohio has benefited over the last several years through a sales tax on Medicaid managed care organizations (MCO). The federal government has stated that Ohio can no longer collect this sales tax,” she said then.

The MCO sales tax loss to Shelby County is projected to be $450,000 and to Auglaize County, about $400,000 annually.

Ehemann and Auglaize County Commissioner Doug Spencer both said residents will feel the pinch.

“We fund five non-state mandated entities,” Ehemann said. “That’s the first area where we have the ability to cut.” Those entities are the Senior Center of Sidney and Shelby County, Shelby County Soil and Water District, Shelby County OSU Extension, Sidney Shelby County Transit and the Sidney Shelby County Economic Partnership.

Cuts would affect children in 4-H, seniors, farm families, manufacturers, local businesses and disabled and elderly transit riders.

The commissioners have not yet decided how much to cut from which local budget line items, but if they cut all county funding to those five entities, they would save $430,000 — not even enough to make up the total MCO sales tax loss.

In Auglaize County, commissioners would make across the board cuts to all line items in their budget. Spencer said the sheriff’s office, which comprises a third of the county’s expenditures, would take the biggest hit, losing as much as $100,000 per year.

“It’s really going to be a serious issue if it isn’t resolved by the general assembly,” Spencer said. Besides the sheriff’s office, permanent improvement line items in Auglaize County will take big hits, he added.

According to Ehemann, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services have given the state a waiver, allowing the state to fully replace its sales tax loss of $597 million, but the state budget proposal provides counties with just a one-time allocation that equals about three months of the taxes for some counties up to over a year’s worth for others.

To provide the allocation, the state can ask MCOs for a one-time franchise fee.

An amendment proposed by Sen. Matt Dolan, R-Chagrin Falls, 24th District, was not passed in the Senate. It would have allowed the state to ask the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid for a larger, annual franchise fee to cover the shortfall to the counties. A lesser amendment calling for two years of allocations was passed, which permits the conference committee to address the issue.

Ehemann said that none of the legislators representing Shelby County spoke in favor of the amendment. Calls by the Sidney Daily News to Rep. Nino Vitale, R-Urbana, 85th District, and Sen. Matt Huffman, R-Lima, 12th District, asking for their opinions on the issue were not returned. Rep. Keith Faber, R-Celina, 84th District, said in a voice mail message that he was unsure of what version had come out of the house late Wednesday.

“I don’t know what’s in the version passed late last night,” he said Thursday. “I have not been contacted. I’ll wait for what comes out of conference committee. I voted against the budget for a lot of reasons, including not being balanced.”

“The Dolan amendment would just increase the franchise fee to keep the counties whole,” Ehemann noted. “Counties are very concerned that they will be forced to go to local voters to ask for local tax increases to maintain current services. We do not believe we should have to ask for more local money, believing the state should provide funding for state-mandated services.”

To voice their concerns, residents can contact Senate President Larry Obhof, R-Medina, 22nd District, at 614-466-7505 or by email at ohiosenate.gov/obhof/contact. Contact House Speaker Cliff Rosenberger, R-Clarksville, 91st District, at 614-466-3506 or by email at ohiohouse.gov/clifford-a-rosenberger/contact.