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WARREN - The candidates seeking to become the next Trumbull County auditor both vow the office will be open and transparent to residents looking to understand the office's inner workings and how local taxes are collected and used.
Edward Stredney, 45, a Democrat, is a Niles councilman-at-large, was elected as the 3rd Ward councilman from 2006 to 2015 and then was appointed Niles service director from February 2017 to August 2018.
Michael Loychik, 37, a Republican, served four years in the Ohio House of Representatives from 2020 through 2024.
MIKE LOYCHIK
Loychik, a U.S. Air Force veteran, earned a bachelor’s degree in environmental science and management and an MBA in finance, both from Columbia Southern University.
He owns a commercial residential washer business and a consulting business that focuses on federal and state construction contracts.
"The reason I am running is because I believe it is the auditor's responsibility to ensure accurate property evaluations in the county," Loychik said.
He plans to use real estate assessment funds available to the auditor's office to update outdated pre-COVID-19 era property tax evaluations that he believes are costing property owners higher tax bills.
Loychik described the real estate assessment fund money may be used for countywide reappraisals on properties to bring them back down to current market data based on comparable rates in their neighborhoods.
"What the actual (market) value of your home is what I want to target," he said. "A lot of people are overpaying their property taxes. Especially elderly on fixed incomes."
By lowering the amount property owners are paying in property taxes, the office will be able to keep money in its wallets, Loychik suggested.
He also said he hopes to modernize and streamline the office using new technologies. A key priority will be to regain public trust by ensuring utmost accuracy from the auditor's office to the tax payer.
"I will be doing monthly updates with the public," he said.
Loychik suggested there is not a need to increase the size of the auditor's office.
"The staff is phenomenal," he said. "I know they're doing a good job. They are having issues with leadership."
Loychik noted he does not see a need to move the county's information technology division from under the auditor's office or increase the auditor's budget.
"With modernizing and streamlining processes, we may be able to cut its budget a little bit to be fiscally responsible," he said.
As a former state representative, Loychik said he believes his knowledge and experience will help him navigate with members of the state and, when necessary, testify before state committees for the benefit of Trumbull County.
"I understand how the state government works with county governments," he said. "It will be a huge benefit."
Loychik suggests the county auditor should be heavily involved in the budgeting process in the county.
"The auditor is the fiscal watchdog for the county," he said. "The auditor should be sitting on the budget process and conversations every single time. Taxpayer money is coming in to pay for salaries, to pay for certain services and to pay for an array of things.The auditor should be there to hold people accountable for where we are spending our money and how we are spending our money.
Loychik said the county auditor and treasurer should work together in providing the commissioners an outline for the next year's budget.
Looking at the previous year's budget, they will be able to outline how money was used and where cuts may be made.
EDWARD STREDNEY
Stredney suggests his years of work as a Niles councilman and as its service director makes him uniquely qualified to be the county's auditor.
"My work and education provides a unique experience," Stredney said. "I understand the role of the auditor’s office. Those years when Niles was under fiscal emergency shaped my life. It was quite cumbersome. It set me up for what I do today."
He now works as a project manager at Water Works Technologies.
Niles was placed in fiscal emergency by the state in October 2014 due to a massive debt in its water fund and released from it in March 2019.
"While we were under fiscal emergency, it (the city's budget) was quite cumbersome," he said
"We were required to go through the budget line by line."
Stredney noted that members of Niles City Council and the mayor's office worked to financially set up the city for the next 20 years.
"We did that and were very successful," he described. "When I left, I knew the city would be fiscally strong."
He later started working with cities and counties up and down the East Coast, including as a project manager at Water Works Technologies Metrology and Mueller Water Products. He is a 1999 graduate of Niles McKinley High School, earned a bachelor’s degree in 2008 from Youngstown State University and received a certification from Project Management Institute PMP in 2023.
"I'm running because I believe our auditor's role is to ensure fiscal integrity, accountability and compliance for all county funds," Stredney said.
Referring to the loss of approximately $80,857 of Bazetta township funds in 2024 due to a hack that had the county auditor's office send tax money to a fake online bank in California, Stredney described there were safeguards in place that should have prevented that from happening.
"Trumbull County is not that big," Stredney said. "I was with Niles for 13 years. Niles changed its bank account once during that time."
After several court hearings, the auditor's office was eventually compelled to pay Bazetta for the lost funds.
" I don't understand why there was not a call made to verify there was a change in the account," Stredney said.
After court hearings, the auditor's office paid Bazetta the lost funds.
He noted when the auditor's office is working correctly, most county residents do not question what it is doing.
"It is not something that's not very sexy," he said. "It is behind the scenes."
Stredney describes the auditor's office now doing a computer assistant mass appraisal.
"We should be increasing the number of neighborhood appraisals," he said. "We should be doing smaller block-by-block appraisals to ensure we are getting the most accurate appraisal numbers."
If elected, Stredney noted he will strive to make property evaluations and the owners obligations easier to understand.
The auditor's office, according to Stredney, should work closely with county departments and the commissioners to make sure they understand the budget, so they can develop plans for the replacement of older equipment as they are ending their life cycles.
The commissioners recently approved a program allowing the sheriff’s office to replace four patrol vehicles a year after learning that some of its older vehicles had more than 300,000 miles on them."
"It never should have come to this," he said. "You have to have relationships. It makes planning a whole lot easier. That's what I want to do with all of our departments. There should be responsible discussions with county commissioners."
Stredney noted if he is elected, he'll strive to have closer relationships with the leaders of county departments and the commissioners.
"If we are rowing in the same direction, I think you'll see things take off," Stredney said. "Once all the financial steps are planned out, great things will happen really quickly."
Stredney noted the auditor should be a frequent member of commissioners’ meetings.
Indeed, if elected, the councilman said he will have increased meetings with the community to discuss issues residents have about county finances and tax collections.
"I think the auditor's office needs to be prepared to be flexible," he said. "If the commissioners are set on doing projects, the auditor needs to play a role."
Stredney added the county's Information Technology department should be a standalone department, instead of being under the auditor's office.
He would like to see local government funds restored to pre-2011 levels.
"The state recently had a $1.2 billion surplus," Stredney said. "That is more than enough to restore the local government funds to pre-2011 levels."
He noted even a small increase could significantly affect what local governments are able to do with their budgets.