SIDNEY — “There are some tough times coming up,” said Chairman Bob Guillozet as he addressed county officials during Thursday morning’s commissioner meeting. “We want to get everybody on the same page.
“There are somethings still going on in Columbus,” he said, which will determine funding from the state for the county. All three commissioners — Guillozet, Julie Ehemann and Tony Bornhorst — have attended meetings in Columbus this week. Guillozet was there Tuesday. Ehemann and Bornhorst were there Wednesday and Ehemann addressed the House Ways and Means Committee about the county’s concerns about funding.
Ehemann, who distributed her comments to the committee, said the sales tax on Medicaid Managed Care Organizations (MCO) has a direct impact on funding received in Shelby County. The Federal Government made a decision that Ohio couldn’t collect a sales tax which collected funds from health insuring corporations who serve Medicaid recipients.
In Ohio’s 2018-19 executive budget proposal, Ohio Gov. John Kasich calls for a waiver from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that “will allow the state to fully replace its sales tax loss of $597 million, but only provides counties with a one-time allocation that ranges from approximately three months for some counties to more than a year for others,” said Ehemann.
For Shelby County, she said, the proposal calls for a one-time payment of approximately $201,000 to replace the $451,328 which supports the 2016 general fund revenues of $11,617,324.
“The governor has made the state whole (financially),” said Guillozet. “The state is collecting more money but there’s nothing for the local governments. We just want him to treat us fairly like he’s doing with his own entity (state of Ohio).”
“They need to quit chopping my right arm off and still expect us to deliver to the citizens,” said Bornhorst. “It’s embarrassing to talk about the wages of our employees. When you talk about a $15 minimum wage, there’s going to be a lot of people in Shelby County get pay increases.”
All three commissioners said the county is in the financial shape it is today thanks to its employees. Reduced office hours by departments has helped decrease salaries for county employees.
Shelby county’s general fund is $178,627.92 less than it was in 2002. For the same 15-year period, the state of Ohio’s general fund has increased 54.79 percent, according to information provided by Bornhorst.
All county funds from 2002 to 2017 are up 37.4 percent thanks to grants that employees have applied for, said Bornhorst. All county funds from 2013 to 2017 are up 15.58 percent, also thanks to the grants received. The state of Ohio’s general fund from 2013 to 2017, he said, has increased by 24.49 percent.
Less money, said Bornhorst, is coming back to Shelby County from the state of Ohio. With less funds, he said, the county has cut funds where ever it could. With the MCO sales tax being lost, the commissioners might have to adjust funding for programs that are not state mandated which they help support — Ohio State University Extension, $125,000; Sidney Senior Center, $24,000; Shelby Public Transit, $40,000; Economic Development, $40,000; and Soil and Water Conservation District, $209,220.
If those programs had to be cut, said Bornhorst and Ehemann, the following could happen: the loss of the 4-H programming to almost 1,000 youth, conservation services to over 300 farming families, senior services to 950 active senior citizens, economic development to the manufacturers and businesses and transit services to 4,200 riders a month of which almost 50perent are elderly or disabled.
“Agriculture is the No. 1 industry in the county,” said Bornhorst. “Our manufacturing per capita is the highest in the state. 4-H is an important program. We have a new educator who want to grow our programs outside of the traditional areas.
“We don’t want to be known for hacking the five non-mandated areas but we don’t have anything left to cut. You all need to tell the legislators this. They’ve had the opportunity to make changes in a six year period of time. They’ve had the opportunity to cut expenses and all they’ve done is to cut (funding) to us,” said Bornhorst.
Other lost revenue the county has experienced includes tangible personal property tax, $580,000; local government funds, $698,000; and managed care organizations, $227,500. The county does receive $580,000 from the state’s casinos.
Revenue for the county includes sales tax, $4,500,000; real estate, $2,550,000; sheriff’s office, $915,000; and local government funds, $665,000.
The revenue from the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office comes from contract work for inmates and housing inmates from other counties along with federal inmates. The state, said Guillozet, is proposing all fifth-degree felonies be housed at local jails instead of state prisons. There are 48 Shelby County residents who would be eligible to come back to the county jail from prison.
“If we bring those 48 prisoners back here, we’re going to be losing money from the 48 other inmates that we house,” said Guillozet. Sheriff John Lenhart has contracts ranging from $57 to $60 per day for inmates housed at the jail. If the local inmates are brought back, the county would only receive $23.50 per day per person.
“The state can come up with ways for it to cost us more and give themselves more money,” said Guillozet. “The sales tax holiday also costs the county money. The things they are doing at the state are not in the best interest of the local government.
“We’re doing more with less (money),” said Guillozet. “It’s time for them (state of Ohio) to step up and do more with less too. The state is keeping itself whole and leaving us out.”
All three commissioners urged the officials to contact their organizations to talk to legislatures about the budget. They also asked everyone to attend the Ohio Council of County Officials meeting in April in Columbus.
“We’re all in this together,” said Guillozet. “We wanted you to know what we’re facing. If you belong to an organization, get with them. Let’s keep this message going.”
“These programs are the glue and fabric of the community,” said Ehemann. “We don’t want to cut them, but we’re being force to.”
