Commissioners undecided on longevity of sales tax

By Peter H. Milliken

YOUNGSTOWN — Mahoning County Commissioners John A. McNally IV and Anthony T. Traficanti say they’re undecided about whether the county’s half-percent sales tax should be a five-year, 10-year or continuous measure when it returns to the ballot in May.

The continuous-tax renewal measure was defeated this month in a 53 percent-47 percent split, in which it lost by 9,582 votes.

The commissioners will have public hearings early next year concerning the tax and whether it should be a five-year, 10-year or continuous measure, McNally said.

Traficanti said he has not yet examined reports from this month’s election and from the successful continuous renewal of the other half- percent sales tax in May 2007 to see a community-by- community breakdown of where in the county the tax passed and failed in each election.

McNally said he wasn’t sure if voter objection to the sales tax’s being continuous was a significant factor in its defeat last week, and Traficanti declined to comment on this question.

McNally said people have told him in informal conversations over the past few days that the commissioners should consider a five-year renewal of the tax next year.

McNally noted that, during this year’s public hearings and meetings concerning the sales-tax renewal, the commissioners didn’t hear much objection to the continuing aspect of the tax.

If the commissioners decide on a five-year measure, McNally said he hopes the commissioners can use the ballot language they used in 2005, when the current five-year tax was adopted.

“If it were to be for a continuing period of time, I would like to see the language that we used in 2007, when we were successful,’’ McNally said.

Each sales tax is expected to raise about $13 million this year for the county’s general fund, which supports the sheriff’s department, prosecutor, courts, 911 center, elections board and many other county departments.

As to how the ballot language should be presented next May, Traficanti said: “Renewal, renewal, renewal,” and added that he hopes the word “additional” can be deleted.

Noting that the words “additional general revenues’’ appeared in the successful 2007 renewal, McNally said he wasn’t sure if those same words were a significant obstacle for this year’s issue.

Last month, Traficanti, Commissioner David N. Ludt and County Prosecutor Paul J. Gains were angry that the ballot language said the tax would provide “additional general revenues.”

The board of elections suspended its clerk, Danielle O’Neill, for five days without pay for failing to follow board policy of submitting the ballot language to the commissioners and Gains for their review.

The elections board suspended O’Neill’s boss, Elections Director Thomas McCabe, for three days without pay over the matter. The suspensions will be served after the election results are officially certified later this month.

The county sheriff’s department is investigating to see if any criminal activity occurred with the failure to submit the ballot language to the commissioners and Gains.

O’Neill failed to send ballot language to any political entity with a tax issue on this month’s ballot.

The Ohio secretary of state’s office certified the ballot language as an accurate reflection of the resolution passed by the commissioners and written by the county prosecutor’s office for the sales-tax issue.