Columbus
Government Examiner...
Ohio county
commissioner chief says gov mergers should not be in state budget
June 1, 2011
COLUMBUS, Ohio (CGE) - Back from a meeting in Washington, D.C., where
he was when new Ohio Auditor Dave Yost attended the general government
committee of the County Commisioner Association of Ohio [CCAO], the
group’s leader, long-time CCAO chief Larry Long, offered information
via email to CGE that said his members offered their support to Yost
for the concept of permissive county mergers, but told the former
county prosecutor that given its importance and complexity, the
proposal should be in stand-alone legislation, not included in the
House-passed two-year state budget bill now working its way through the
Senate.
CCAO OK with reforms but wants more review time
Long said that the CCAO committee charged with the issue told Yost, who
like new Republican Gov. John Kasich is a big proponent of
restructuring government that includes mergers among counties and
townships among other strategies, that it needs additional time to
further review and comment on the proposed language.
“Some of the issues that we want to address in further detail is how
the issue gets on the ballot,” Long wrote. “There is language in the
budget bill now that allows townships to merge if the trustees vote to
put the question on the ballot or there is a initiative petition
submitted signed by 10 percent of those voting in the last election for
Governor. In the case of counties, the commissioners would have
no authority to put this on the ballot but it could only go on by a
petition signed by three percent,” Long added, noting that changes may
increase the percentage to six percent and might limit such mergers to
smaller counties. Ohio has 88 counties and 1,308 townships.
Among those calling for reforms in the layers of government is former
GOP Gov. Bob Taft’s chief of staff, who said downsizing Ohio’s
thousands of government jurisdictions is a good move and overdue.
Long wrote that he understands the reason the commissioners will not
have the authority to put it on the ballot is that the other elected
officials thought they should have the ability to vote on it also, so
that for it to appear on the ballot it would take a majority of the 11
elected officials. “We think that if the trustees should be able to put
it on the ballot then the commissioners should also and maybe the 10
percent initiative requirement is a good one,” Long said, adding that
“We are still working on other issues with the state auditors office
like how to handle differential tax rates that may be in effect in the
two counties etc, but we are not against the idea as such...We just
want to be sure it is thought out well so if it happens it actually
will work.”
“I thought that maybe if the way it got on the ballot was by a vote of
the 11 elected officials then maybe we ought to change the law to
provide that this is how taxes are enacted by counties, but I don’t
think the other county elected officials want this authority as I guess
this is the job of the commissioners,” Long said.
Ohio think tanks think reforms needed
Other Ohio groups representing the right, left and center of the
political spectrum, are advocating for tax reform, which ties into
Long’s and his group’s concerns going forward. To help address the
underlying structures that are encouraging urban sprawl and
discouraging redevelopment, Greater Ohio [GO] said in an email that it
recently partnered with two other high-profile Ohio research
organizations, the Buckeye Institute [right of center] and Center for
Community Solutions [left of center], in a call for tax reform.
The organizations, each representing a different perspective in the
political spectrum, hope to lead by example. “By focusing on our common
goals and partnering for positive change, we hope to inspire others in
the state to do the same,” Lavea Brachman, GO chief, said. She said her
GO and BI and CCS sent a proposal to state administrative and
legislative leaders encouraging them to create a bipartisan State and
Local Tax Study Commission to analyze the current tax structure and
initiate efforts to reform state and local taxation in Ohio.
In addition, Brachman said the groups called for elimination of
specific tax loopholes or tax expenditures which the groups estimate
will generate more than $300 million in savings each fiscal year. By
reducing local tax burdens and restructuring government structures,
Brachman said it’s her group’s position that a level playing field can
be created for Ohio cities, reducing unnecessary and costly competition
among jurisdictions, whcih could help restore prosperity to our
regions.
“We think that Ohio is at a critical moment of change in which we need
to reexamine our antiquated tax and governance structures to better
align with the realities of how we live and work, in order to ensure a
successful transition to a 21st century economy,” Brachman, a
non-resident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said.
While BI, CCS and GO each recommends different uses for the tax
savings, the common thread among them is that each agrees that Ohio’s
local tax structure is holding back the state. Kasich during his run
for governor and now as governor has repeated his mantra that high Ohio
taxes - a combination of state and local taxes - need to be lowered
sufficiently to lure businesses back to the Buckeye State. Over the
last four years, Ohio lost about 430,000 jobs on top of the 200,000 or
more it lost between 2000 and 2007, when Republicans occupied the
governor’s mansion, all statewide offices and both chambers of the
legislature. Studies show Ohio has lost about two-thirds of its
manufacturing base since the mid 1970s, the apogee of Ohio’s industrial
might, when layers of government were not the hot button issue they are
today.
The troika of public policy groups are aligned with the current,
popular political philosophies espoused by Kasich, Yost and other
government leaders that government reforms like the sharing of
services, the consolidation of duplicative government districts (like
multiple water and sewer districts in one county) and the strategic
merging of jurisdictions will be good for business and good for the
state.
GO offered a study it released last week that highlights the negative
effects of the state’s antiquated county sales tax revenue structure
and emphasizes the need for restructuring such as governance reform.
The study also reveals how the status quo is jeopardizing the state’s
economic stability and prospects for regrowth.
Read it at the Columbus Government Examiner
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