YOUNGSTOWN — A Mahoning County commissioner is apologizing for a seemingly threatening comment she made about state lawmakers last week.

“I would like to sincerely apologize for what I said in reference to officials in Columbus during last week’s Board of Commissioners meeting. Reactive statements like that have no place in the public discourse, especially from an elected official. I want to reiterate that what I regretfully said was in a moment of frustration and should not be interpreted as anything other than that,” Commissioner Carol Rimedio-Righetti said in a news release issued Monday.

“During my time serving our area, I have seen our county, and all counties across Ohio, being left by the state to pick up the tab of unfunded, politically motivated mandates while disregarding the increased pressure it puts on us. It is a constant obstacle as we work to ensure the residents of Mahoning County receive the best possible services and something that needs to be addressed.”

Her questionable remark came after Mahoning County Auditor Ralph Meacham gave a presentation at the end of their meeting Thursday.

Meacham discussed the potential impacts for the county, its townships, school districts and other property-tax-dependent agencies and departments, should commissioners adopt a resolution per Ohio House Bill 96 that allows county commissioners to double the value of Homestead Act tax exemptions and owner-occupied tax credits. Unlike the current program, under which Columbus reimburses counties for the cost of those credits — $12.2 million for Mahoning County — the HB 96 program would not put the additional money back into the county’s coffers.

The county would take a roughly $1.8 million hit, school districts a total of about $7.6 million and townships about $1.6 million, Meacham said. The Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County and Mill Creek MetroParks also would lose significant funding.

All commissioners agreed with Meacham that the state’s proposed solution for relieving the tax burden on senior citizens comes at too high a cost for the rest of the county, and they expressed resentment at Columbus leaving the burden to them.

Rimedio-Righetti’s frustration was initially expressed in terms on par with that of her colleagues’ comments.

“This is just another trickle down effect from the state. If they want to help seniors over 62 or 65 — go back to the 1970s, to the original Homestead Exemption percentages,” Remedio-Righetti said. “Because what they’re trying to do here is bring it down to the county commissioners, not only in Mahoning but everywhere. And then we’re the ones who are going to enforce it, and who takes the hit? Taxpayers do. Their kids do, the schools do, developmental disabilities, mental health.”

But she punctuated the statement with a lamentable comment.

“Sometimes I get so frustrated with them, gosh, I just want to go down there and kill them all.”

Rimedio-Righetti immediately backtracked as the room full of county employees and

residents chuckled at the hyperbolic comment, stating that she absolutely meant no real harm to anyone and was just conveying her irritation with the state’s decision-making.

Over the weekend, the comment caught the attention of local social media personalities, The MLO Bros. They said Rimedio-Righetti’s words were not so bad and seemed to sympathize with hers and her county commissioners’ frustration about the Columbus proposals for tax relief.

On Monday, Rimedio-Righetti said the news release covers her sentiments about the incident, except to add that she remains committed to helping county residents in any way she can.

“You know how passionate I am about government, and it’s just something that I said that probably was misinterpreted,” she said.

Rimedio-Righetti announced earlier this year that she will not be seeking re-election. She has endorsed State Rep. Lauren McNally, D-Youngstown, to succeed her in the seat.