Richland County commissioners encouraged by positive sales tax report

Black Friday turned out to be green for Richland County.

County Commissioner Tony Vero reported at the board’s regular meeting Thursday that the February state distribution of local sales tax revenue, which reflects November sales, was 7.53% better than February 2023.

Commissioners said last year during the process of putting together the 2024 general fund budget they were being cautious because sales tax revenues generally declined in 2023 over the same period in 2022. Their projections for 2024 called for sales tax collections to be 3% to 4% lower.

Vero on Thursday said Richland County’s February sales tax figure was significantly better than the statewide average of 1.37% reported by the Ohio Department of Taxation.

“We’re very pleased when you crush the state average after we had a completely negative quarter in Q4 (compared to 2023) and the last positive sales tax month was September and we were negative in June, July and August,” he said. “That’s a sign we had a healthy November, and let’s hope that the December spending and March receipts will be similar.”

Vero noted the state still is not able to provide a breakdown of sales tax receipts for online sales to see how they affected the overall figure.

Commissioner Cliff Mears said consumer confidence has to be part of the reason for the good February figure. County Administrator Andrew Keller added, “This is encouraging for the commissioners because this board has a pro-business, pro-market philosophy and so to see Richland County thriving economically, that’s why we’re here.”

Vero also reported that figures for the rest of the eight major general fund revenue sources varied but were up overall by 5% from the same time last year. Local government fund receipts were down 8% while building permit revenue was off 4%, the county’s share of casino tax revenue was up “slightly” and the county has not received a number of reimbursements.

“We’re about on pace with where we were last year, which is OK for the first couple of months,” Vero said.

Commissioners OK new jail lighting

During the business portion of the meeting, commissioners approved a $298,780 contract with Energy Optimizers of Dayton to retrofit the county jail with energy-saving LED lighting. Maintenance Director Josh Hicks said he has been working on the project for the past six months and that the company assessed the needs and put together the project after being recommended by local consultant Al Berger.

Keller said the selling point for the lighting retrofit is it will pay for itself. “The energy savings are calculated to justify the entire cost of this contract by Year Eight, and that’s using our current rate per kilowatt hour, which is lower than it will be over the next eight years,” he said.

Hicks noted the cost is less than he estimated and will be paid out of the maintenance department budget. There also is a potential $15,000 rebate from First Energy.

Courthouse renovations continue

Commissioners also voted to allocate $69,560 in county American Rescue Plan Act funds to buy new office furniture from Four U Office Supplies of Celina for the new Clerk of Courts office on the L-2 level of the county administration building. Hicks reported during the commissioners’ quarterly department head meeting on Thursday that the walls are up and the drywall is ready to paint on the L-2 renovation project.

Hicks also said during his report that the project to repair and refurbish the elevators in the building started Feb. 26 and that all the materials for the project were received Wednesday. He said both elevators should be working again by September or October.

Keller told the board qualifications from architects are being reviewed for design work on a remodel project on L-1 that includes the land bank office, space for conferences, probation and general meetings and renovation of nine restroom on all three building main floors. He also is working with Human Resources Director Kelley Christiansen to finish a complete revision of the county policy manual, which officials say will include some major changes but did not give details.

Dog warden, Dayspring updates

Dog Warden Missy Houghton reported that 1,150 dogs were taken into the shelter in 2023 with 529 adopted, 417 returned to owners, 35 sent to rescue organizations and 97 dogs still at the shelter. She also said a volunteer who has worked 6 to 8 hours every day for almost 20 years to help walk the dogs has received a national honor and will be formally recognized for her work in April.

Dayspring Director Michelle Swank reminded the board that the facility will hold its 31st annual Easter egg hunt March 30 at 1 p.m. with hunts for various age groups ― including a new toddler area ― carnival games, food and goodie bags for the children.

“The residents are excited to have everyone show up again,” she said. “It’s a way for Dayspring to say thank you to our community, which gives us so much.”

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Commissioners report sales tax revenue increase in February