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Cleveland Plain Dealer...
Mayors want Kasich budget reforms restored
Saturday, June 11, 2011

Mayors and city managers in Northeast Ohio greatly appreciate the efforts by The Plain Dealer to call attention to the impact of proposed cuts to local communities by state legislators. While we acknowledge the difficulties the state’s budget crisis has created, local governments are fighting a similar battle with our own budgets. That is why we are asking the General Assembly to restore many of the reforms proposed by Gov. John Kasich in the as-introduced version of the bill.

These reforms are essential to helping local government leaders manage the impact of the proposed cuts on the delivery of essential, basic services in our communities. For example, the 2 percent reduction in employer contributions to the pension systems would immediately assist local governments in offsetting the impact of the cuts in funding. The governor’s budget included additional reforms, such as updating Ohio’s public notice laws and allowing us to explore regional health care pooling for public employees that can, over time, result in dramatic savings for our communities.

Finally, the as-introduced version of the budget did not include elimination of the estate tax. That loss of this revenue would remove an additional $40.5 million in funding from local governments in Cuyahoga County and $269.4 million statewide.

Given the state’s budget outlook, local government leaders fully expected to experience some level of reduction in state support in this budget. The severity of the cuts proposed is, however, much too deep. We respectfully ask for the restoration of some of the tools originally proposed by the governor to help strike a more appropriate balance between the need to address the state’s budget situation and the potentially devastating effect these cuts would have on communities across the state of Ohio.

John M. Licastro, Bratenahl

Licastro is the mayor of Bratenahl and the president of the Cuyahoga County Mayors and City Managers Association

Read it at the Cleveland Plain Dealer


 
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