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YOUNGSTOWN -- Property taxes continue to dominate the county's political discourse, but the candidates for Mahoning County commissioner have their eyes on other problems too.
By and large, they both want to improve economic development, address rising property taxes and make better use of county resources, but they have different views about how county government should operate to get the job done.
Commissioner Carol Rimedio-Righetti is retiring at the end of the year, and wants fellow Democrat Lauren McNally to take her place. Republican Christine Oliver hopes to play spoiler on Nov. 3.
McNally said Mahoning County needs a long-term plan to attract investment and prepare for growth.
“We need to have our own seat at those tables, and we need to be planning. We need to be the centralized organizer of that stuff,” she said.
Oliver said the county needs greater financial accountability and a stronger commitment to protecting taxpayers.
“You have to be transparent with what you’re doing with the money and more accountable for what you’re doing with the money and how you’re spending it,” she said.
McNally, serving her second term in the Ohio House of Representatives, previously served on Youngstown City Council. She said her experience in state and municipal government would help the county obtain funding and coordinate development.
She said more than $200 million in state funding has been secured for projects in the districts she has represented, crediting cooperation among local officials, community leaders and lawmakers.
Oliver, president of Canfield City Council, is a U.S. Navy veteran with nearly 30 years of experience in insurance and financial services. She works in management for MassMutual and operates two Boardman businesses with her husband. She also co-founded Back the Blue Ohio, a nonprofit that raises money for children of fallen law enforcement officers.
PROPERTY TAXES AND SPENDING
Both candidates said Ohio lawmakers must do more to address rising property taxes but differed over the county’s role in providing relief.
Oliver supports expanding the homestead exemption and owner-occupancy credit, particularly for seniors on fixed incomes.
“Now our seniors are actually moving out of their homes into apartments or with other family members because they simply can’t afford to stay in their home. And I think that’s a travesty,” Oliver said.
County commissioners over the summer voted to double the owner-occupied tax credit. Ohio counties already receive reimbursement from Columbus for the standard homestead and owner-occupied exemptions. But when the Ohio Legislature approved a measure to allow counties to double that exemption, it didn't come with supporting money from the state. Increasing the exemptions comes at the county's cost.
Mahoning County Auditor Ralph Meacham said that to double both exemptions would cost Mahoning County about $12 million a year, mostly on the backs of school districts and local governments.
Oliver acknowledged that commissioners cannot eliminate property taxes without jeopardizing schools and public safety services. She said she has met with Meacham and state Rep. David Thomas, R-Jefferson, to discuss possible relief.
Asked how the county could offset those losses, she said the state should return money recovered through investigations of fraud and waste. She also called for closer scrutiny of government spending, including reserves held by publicly funded organizations seeking additional tax revenue.
“But I also believe you should use the money you have before you ask me for more,” Oliver said.
McNally criticized state lawmakers for allowing additional local property tax relief without replacing the revenue lost.
“It is absolutely reprehensible that the state Legislature put this on the backs of the local communities and didn’t want to get their hands dirty and didn’t want to pony up any of their money,” she said.
She said the state failed to advance proposals that could provide relief without undermining essential services. She also criticized county commissioners for not taking a more active role in advocating for local governments in Columbus.
“I can be one voice down there, but the power is presence down there,” McNally said.
The candidates also differ over school funding. Oliver questioned why some districts seek additional tax revenue while maintaining substantial reserves. McNally said schools need those reserves to cover expenses between property tax collections and to meet long-term obligations.
McNally also defended the Fair School Funding Plan, saying the state has failed to fully fund the formula and keep pace with inflation.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Oliver and McNally said Mahoning County must work harder to attract major employers, pointing to Trumbull County’s success in securing Kimberly-Clark and Amazon facilities.
McNally said Mahoning County lacks the centralized planning structure necessary to compete.
She called for a five- or 10-year strategic plan addressing land use, infrastructure, housing and economic development.
She said the county should identify available land, determine which properties have access to utilities and assemble information prospective developers can obtain from a single source.
“They don’t want to be calling 25 different communities to get their water, to get their wastewater, to get their sewer, to get our land, to get their electricity,” she said. “They want a one-stop shop.”
She also wants stronger tourism and marketing efforts to promote the county as an affordable place to live and work.
Oliver said cleaning up former steel sites could help Mahoning County compete for employers that currently find more readily developable properties in neighboring communities.
“We’ve had the steel mills sitting around for years and years and years. Those brownfields, I truly believe that something could be developed there,” she said. “We need to clean up our brownfields so that we are more inviting to have some business here as well instead of all of it going to Trumbull County.”
She also called for workforce development and a broader mix of employers to provide career opportunities for young residents.
Oliver expressed conditional support for locating data centers on former industrial properties, provided they do not place additional burdens on surrounding communities.
“If you’re going to do that, you need to be self-contained, and you need to give back to the community around you,” she said. Oliver said she opposes tax abatements for data center developers.
HOUSING AND POPULATION
Both candidates said affordable housing and retaining residents are essential to Mahoning County’s economic future.
McNally said local business leaders have identified a need for approximately 25,000 additional residents in the Mahoning Valley to meet workforce demands, but the county cannot attract those workers without addressing its aging housing stock and limited new construction.
She proposed making greater use of state and federal housing programs, including Welcome Home Ohio, and providing incentives to encourage private development.
McNally also wants more housing suited to older residents who wish to remain independent but no longer need larger homes. That could make existing family homes available to younger buyers.
She said another challenge is the gap between construction costs and property values, which can make new housing financially unattractive to developers.
She said the county needs to move beyond studying its housing problems.
“I feel like we’ve done enough of studying this issue and talking about this issue. It’s now time to put some of that stuff into play.”
Oliver said rising property taxes and insurance costs threaten housing affordability for young families and retirees.
“So when they’re buying that, their mortgage is based on those property taxes and insurance and things like that. And that’s what they’re budgeting in their mind that they can afford at the time,” she said.
Oliver called for fair property valuations to protect longtime homeowners. She also said redeveloping former industrial sites could attract employers and help retain younger residents.
“That will make more jobs that make housing more affordable, young people staying here, having somewhere to go to work. I think that’s important,” she said.
INFRASTRUCTURE AND PLANNING
Both candidates said the county must maintain its infrastructure and consider the effects of improvements on residents and businesses.
Oliver called for better coordination of construction projects to avoid multiple road closures that disrupt commerce.
She cited work in Canfield and along Western Reserve Road as examples of necessary projects that created difficulties for nearby businesses.
“I think we need to prioritize which projects are in the most need and do those first instead of doing all of them at the same time,” Oliver said.
She said prolonged construction and limited access have contributed to businesses closing.
McNally said infrastructure improvements should be guided by a long-term countywide plan that identifies where investments in roads, water, sewer and other utilities would create the greatest opportunities for development.
“I truly believe that government should be making generational investment. We are not a business by which we measure ROI month to month,” she said.
McNally also supports examining opportunities for communities to share services, but said regionalization should be considered individually rather than treated as a universal solution.
“In some circumstances it is the smart move from a financial perspective. In some circumstances it won’t work, and not because of territorial issues, but because of outlying factors,” she said.
OTHER PRIORITIES
Oliver also emphasized public safety, mental health treatment and assistance for vulnerable residents.
A former board member of Turning Point Counseling Center, she said too many people with mental illnesses end up in jail because adequate treatment resources are unavailable.
“Jails are not equipped for that. We need a place for those residents to be treated. And our officers are at risk all of the time because of it,” Oliver said.
She also called for expanded youth mentoring and violence prevention programs, particularly in Youngstown.
“Turning away from the problem isn’t solving the problem. It makes it worse. We need to be more involved in our own communities and we need to be involved in our children,” she said.
Oliver also wants to establish a county ombudsman position to help protect seniors and other vulnerable residents.
McNally said commissioners must take an active role in overseeing county operations and coordinating local resources.
“Being hands-on, showing up is one of the things I’ve always been proud of that I’ve done… I will continue to do that,” she said. “I’ve seen it firsthand: the communities that do advocate for themselves and what they get for it.”