Could Cornoavirus break Scioto County’s bank? The county was just starting to come back from a huge loss of tax revenue when it was hit by a shutdown of most businesses. And that’s going to cost us millions in tax revenue in the coming months. But Scioto County is prepared in more ways than one. County Commissioners broke it all down at Tuesday’s meeting. Here’s the 2 main points.
Rainy Day Fund
County Commissioner Bryan Davis says, “”No doubt there’s going to be a significant loss of income tax. There’s gonna be a bump. Actually it’s gonna be more of a valley than a bump.”
He says it’s hard to know how much it will hurt. “Yes, we’re gonna feel an impact. How great of an impact? Very hard to calculate right now. Revenue comes in about three months later.” He says despite a huge demand in grocery stores, food and paper goods aren’t taxable.”
Davis says the county has rainy day funds set aside. “That revenue is available in case of a catastrophic event. If you had told us six months ago we’d have been facing a pandemic… It was low on our list of priorities. We look at threats like tornadoes, landslides, things that happen around here regularly. This is why our carryover and our rainy day is so important. We’re going to weather this better than a lot of counties as long as it’s not prolonged. We don’t think it’s going to be prolonged. We are prepared. We have reserves. But we’re going to have to take measures internally to make sure that dip doesn’t cripple us.”
Commissioner Mike Crabtree said there may be money available from the state to make up some of the loss. “How much we can count on, whether it’s the entire amount or a percentage of what we lost, something will be done. We aim to keep the county solid financially.”
Commissioner Cathy Coleman said the county kept up the conservative financial practices implemented while it was in fiscal emergency. “We haven’t been extravagant. That’s the reason we make the choices and decisions we do to protect the county. ”
Plan For The Worst. Pray For The Best.
The County was prepared for a crisis in more ways than one. Commissioner Davis praised Scioto County Emergency Management, “Scioto County EMA has been invaluable. It’s priceless.”
Deputy Director of Scioto County Emergency Management Larry Mullins says, “Our job is to plan for the worst scenario and pray for the best outcomes. We constantly drill. We plan for infectious disease, chemical spills, floods, snows storm.”
He said that EMA Director Kim Carver has seen it all during her tenure with the agency. “Since 1987, Director Kim Carver has seen everything from three feet of snow to prison riots. We are constantly meeting on a quarterly basis with about 2 dozen people from law enforcement, hospitals, prisons, people from social service agencies like Red Cross and Salvation army. That’s our job. We are proud to protect the Citizens of Scioto County.”
On a personal note, I’ve had the opportunity to interview individuals from several agencies and healthcare facilities and I’ve received nothing but positive feedback about Scioto EMA and their planning for emergencies.
