Scioto County Commissioners held a public hearing to discuss next year’s budget. However, no members of the public chose to attend to weigh in.
In the absence of input from citizens, commissioners had a few things to say about the state of the budget.
County Commissioner Bryan Davis says the county needs to watch expenses closely thanks to a hit from rising inflation. Scioto County expects to take in $20 million in revenue but has requests for $27 million in funds from various departments.
“We have to stay healthy. We have to stay viable. We have to be able to do the things we want to be able to do.”
He said the county would have to “wait and see” before laying out money for some projects. Davis noted that some changes in the state’s budget were not particularly friendly to the county.
“When I see things such as an extended sales tax holiday, I, for one, was not in favor of an extended sales tax holiday for the state because of how it affects budgets. I agree with it for back-to-school, but I see extending it as a cut in revenue for counties.”
Davis quoted the late Commissioner Mike Crabtree. “You don’t more with less. You do less with less.”
He said there was not much left to cut in the budget and that his fellow commissioner shared the concern. “We’re good, but we gotta stay good.”
Commissioner Scottie Powell said, “If you’re getting $20 million, you can’t spend $27.”
Powell said the largest expenditure for the county is payroll and benefits and he encouraged departments to make cuts where possible. “I’d encourage all the officeholders to reevaluate their offices and see where they could combine positions as people retired or left positions. “Now that we have new technology, is that position necessary? Can you combine positions? I know we’ve done that in our office. I’d encourage it.”
Powell said that while the county has a lot of projects happening, “A lot of that money is grant-driven from the state or federal level. That grant money has to be spent soon, and once it’s gone, it’s gone.”
Powell said he hoped the inflation hit was not as bad as commissioners feared it would be.