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The
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State Representative Jim Buchy
Strengthening
Local Governments Through Sound Money Management
As we continue through the budget process, I am mindful of the
struggles of local governments because they play such a vital role in
the everyday lives of Ohioans. Without local governments, many of
our roads would not be maintained, our fire departments would not
arrive at the time of emergency and our police forces would not be able
to keep our homes and possessions safe. In the legislature, I
continue to favor reducing obstacles that make providing these services
more difficult.
As a result of studying the budgets of our local governments, I know
that county governments, for a variety of reasons, have more money than
they did four years ago. Our efforts in the General Assembly to
reduce the personal income tax have stimulated the economy and resulted
in more sales tax revenue collection for local governments. There
is still more that needs to be examined to ensure we are achieving the
best economic balance with the way we tax in Ohio and the need to
continue reducing taxes on working Ohioans.
In state government, we have worked to give billions back to local
governments and private businesses via workers’ compensation
rebates. We’ve maintained access to grants for innovation in
local government. We increased the ability of local governments to
access “Issue 1” funding for local public works projects, and we even
gave $10 million dollars directly to township governments. We
were able to do this because of strong leadership in state
government. We have a vision for the future and we are making
sound money management decisions that will leave our state’s fiscal
outlook in better shape than we found it.
Our local officials remain concerned about their budgets. For
example, our Engineer in Darke County extended the road maintenance
schedule for new pavement on each mile of road from 10 years to 17
years. Our local Engineer does a great job and he should continue
to be commended for his efforts to maintain the largest total miles of
roads managed by a county in any county of this state and one of the
most in the nation. Like many residents in Darke County, I am
concerned about less road maintenance in the future.
I dug into this issue because it is important to understand the
situation so we can correct it and ensure we have quality roads that
will keep our cars in working order and get us safely to and from work.
In Darke County, our gas fund began 2014 with a little over $5 million
and was able to grow to just under $10 million. The engineer spent
about $5.5 million of that fund, leaving a balance of just under $4.5
million in 2014. I applaud his efforts to maintain a reserve, but he is
keeping that reserve at a level high enough to fund an entire year’s
budget. To keep up his paving schedule he is spending a little more
than he is taking in and dipping into that reserve annually to fill in
the funding gap. While in the short term that is manageable, he
has an obligation to the taxpayers to find a way to reduce his costs in
the office and stop spending down the reserve.
The Engineer shares my concerns, but we see the solution from different
philosophical perspectives. As we have watched the gas prices
dip, more Ohioans feel comfortable traveling, and we haven’t seen a
drop in gas tax revenue. At the same time, the Engineer has
benefitted from less expensive fuel to fill up the County
vehicles. He has also benefitted from our efforts to reduce costs
for local governments, such as a reduction in premium costs for
workers’ compensation.
One of the most prominent ingredients in asphalt is derived from crude
oil, which indicates that the price for asphalt should also be
dropping. However, I am concerned that he has not been able to get
asphalt at a lower price. I examined our state asphalt pricing
and we are getting it at a lower cost. Local prices should be following
that trend.
I plan to continue examining the asphalt issue to determine what needs
to happen to ensure that local prices are following the fair and free
market price trends for the product. Now is not the time to
discuss any new taxes on Ohioans. Sound money management can correct
most issues in the Engineer’s budget.
Our local government officials are a partner in returning sound money
management to every level of government. Reducing wasteful
government spending and returning your tax dollars back to you is the
best way to balance a budget and ensure that we are providing high
quality and efficient government services. Challenges facing
local governments are an opportunity to redesign cash flow planning in
a way that benefits the tax payers. In situations where the obstacles
seem too steep, we need to examine those challenges and find a way to
better manage the finite resources available to government. In
most cases, such as the example of the Darke County Engineer’s office,
we will find that a little give and take will probably end up with a
positive fiscal forecast for the long term.
Please give me your opinion on this topic and others in the news this
month by completing an online survey at tinyurl.com/buchymay2015
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