|
|
Darke
County Commissioners give their “State of the County” message to the
Darke County Republican Women’s Club recently. Shown left to right:
Commissioner Diane Delaplane, Club President Sally Zeiter, Republican
candidate for Municipal Court Judge Jesse Green, who spoke briefly to
the group about his campaign, and Commissioners Mike Rhoades and Mike
Stegall. (Lyn Bliss photo)
|
|
Budget cuts, economic
development focus of “State of the County”
By Lyn Bliss, Senior Scribe
www.darkecountyseniors.us
How do the local school facilities impact the economic development effort in Darke County?
“They drove by North School and they were gone,” responded Commissioner Mike Stegall.
While acknowledging that local school facilities have had an impact on
bringing in new businesses, Darke County Commissioners Diane Delaplane,
Mike Rhoades and Stegall, in their recent “State of the County”
presentation to the Darke County Republican Women’s Club, said that the
total picture is “looking up.”
The Commissioners administer a Revolving Loan Fund that provides
funding for businesses of up to $150,000, at interest rates set by the
Commissioners. These loans are geared at creating jobs and fostering
growth in the Darke County business community.
“We stipulate that there must be at least one job created for each $25,000 loaned,” Delaplane said.
The Community Investment Corporation - with funding from the county of
up to $150,000, coming from real estate transfer taxes - runs economic
development in Darke County. The commissioners said their goal is to
create a fund of approximately $2 million to be used for business loans.
Stegall said that there are currently 15 projects ongoing through local
economic development efforts; these are both to retain jobs and create
new jobs. Approximately 300 jobs are involved.
The Darke County Airport will soon be able to accommodate larger
business jets, they said. There is currently 300 feet of runway that
cannot be used due to the location of State Route 242. The
Commissioners are working with the State in an effort to have the road
transferred to County ownership and a new traffic plan developed that
will allow the use of the other 300 feet of runway.
“This will be a great benefit when trying to attract businesses to our area,” they said.
The county is also exploring several energy projects. At this time
commissioners hope that there will be 125 to 150 windmills generating
electricity in Darke County by 2014-15.
Stegall spoke to the group about the interaction with the State on
funding, regulations, and efforts for economic development in the
county.
“In a recent discussion with Governor Kasich, we were told that everything is on the table for cuts,” he said.
Stegall explained that the Ohio Economic Development Department has 400
employees who perform a multitude of jobs not necessarily related to
Economic Development. The Governor is planning to cut that number to 15
and have them either work for $1 a year or on a volunteer basis. They
will all work solely on Economic Development within the state. The goal
is to cut the turnaround on all requests to 72 hours.
Rhoades provided details on the budget, including income and
expenditures. The total Darke County budget is in the neighborhood of
$74 million, he said.
“We are in charge of the purse strings. We must balance our budget
every year and we plan for a $2 million carry-over at the end of each
year. This is to fund county budget until tax revenues begin to come
into the county,” Rhoades said.
“If we could count on a fixed amount from the state it would make
budgeting easier,” Rhoades added. He went on to explain that the
amounts from the state have been reduced in the past few years – by as
much as $600,000 a year – because the state has made adjustments on tax
revenues. The state will not tell them why, making it even harder to
budget realistically.
Rhoades spoke about some of the funded and unfunded mandates for which
the Commissioners are responsible. One of the big drains in the past
couple of years has been the requirements the state has passed down to
the local Board of Elections. There has also been a significant
increase in the number of Darke County villages that have new public
sewer systems. Wayne Lakes is an upcoming project and will require an
additional expense for pumping facilities.
One of the questions the audience asked was how the community could
help the Commissioners perform their jobs. Commissioners noted that
residents could help by buying locally and paying taxes in a timely
manner.
Delaplane, who is also a member of the Darke County Republican Women’s
Club, explained how the three commissioners split up their duties. Each
serves on a portion of the more than 30 boards, commissions and other
groups in which they are expected to participate.
A 10-county group meets every other month where the Commissioners from
the counties are able to discuss ideas, problems, solutions, trends and
other information relevant to their jobs.
“We are NOT tearing down the courthouse and we are NOT constructing a
new building at this time,” said Delaplane. “The basement restroom
facilities are under renovation and the handicap access features are
being updated. This is contrary to some rumors going around.”
Stegall explained that the Commissioners will be doing a program on
WTGR radio on the last Friday of each month and they are planning to
have an article in print media on a monthly basis.
The Darke County Republican Women’s Club meets on the second Monday of
every month at the Chestnut Village Center. For more information,
please contact President Sally Zeiter at (937) 423-2391 or by email at
DCRWPresident@darkegop.org . Information regarding the Darke County
Republican Women’s Club and other Republican activities in Darke County
may be found at www.darkegop.org.
|
|
|
|
