|
County
Administrator, Vond Hall, began a power point presentation
outlining the four major sources of revenue to the county
general fund, in their relative order of importance as follows:
1. PERMISSIVE SALES
AND USE TAX
2. PROPERTY TAX
3. LOCAL GOVERNMENT
FUNDS
4. INVESTMENT
EARNINGS
The Permissive
Sales and Use Tax is generally either the first or second
largest sources of revenue to the county general fund. Counties
may levy a tax of up to 1.5% under two separate sections of Ohio
law. Generally, there are four methods by which the tax may be
enacted. In certain cases the tax must be submitted to the
electors for approval, but in other cases the tax may be enacted
without the necessity of a vote, however, the tax is always
subject to either a referendum or an election to repeal, an
initiative process.
Following is the
number of counties that have levied the tax and the various
rates:
Fulton County
Commissioners imposed sales tax of 0.05 May 1, 1972
Fulton County
Commissioners imposed sales tax of 0.05 Feb 1, 1987
Current tax rate
is 1%
Beginning in January
2008, there will be no further LGRAF distributions. There will
be a commensurate increase in LGF distributions, however.
The 2001 freeze will
be lifted starting in January 2008 and “percentage of revenue”
funding will be restored. On a month-to-month basis, there will
be considerable variations between Calendar Year 2008
distributions and Calendar Year 2007 distributions. This is the
expected and necessary result of transitioning from freeze
funding to percentage-of-revenue funding.
Commercial
Activity Tax (CAT) The CAT is a State tax measured by
taxable gross receipts from most business activities. Most
receipts generated in the ordinary course of business are
subject to the CAT. The CAT only applies to those gross receipts
that are sourced to Ohio. Personal Property tax is phased out .
During the
“hold-harmless” period, 2006-2010, local jurisdictions will be
fully compensated for all tax revenue losses through a
combination of taxes and reimbursements.
From 2011 through
2018, with certain exceptions, the reimbursements will be
phased-out.
Roughly speaking,
38% of the revenue for the General Fund comes from Sales tax.
15% is Property Tax. Over 50% is a combination of both, with
approx. $250,000.00 Personal Property Tax being phased out.
Without more revenue
and/or less expense the cash balance in the General Fund will
drop to zero in a matter of a few years.
Following the
presentation discussions took place. Commissioner Short stated
that the previous administration did a great job of being
conservative in spending and very aggressive on cuts and
reconstruction. He further noted that during the current
administration he had seen additional cuts in expenses, such as
limiting purchases and not filling vacated positions. He stated
that the next step is to start cutting services and people. He
fears that services that the citizens of Fulton County have come
to expect will begin to suffer. Commissioner Genter stated that
he would like to put this in front of the voters now and take
this time to educate the voters on why this increase is needed.
Commissioner Barnaby stated that things are different now than
what they were at the time of the last increases. County
Recorder Sandra Barber, stated that she is one of the
departments that recently suffered cutbacks in personnel and
stated her department cannot operate if more cuts are made.
Clerk of Courts, Mary Gype, stated that her department has also
suffered from cutbacks and feels very strongly that a ˝% is
necessary to keep her department running in a timely manner as
required by the court system. Dan Bruner from the Soil and Water
District stated that this is only the beginning and is afraid
that a ˝% increase will not be enough. Commissioner Genter
stated that upkeep of the county facilities is a continuing
duty. He further stated that if facilities are let go, it costs
more to bring them back or to rebuild. Commissioner Genter
stated they would take a vote to put this increase in front of
the voters this fall but stipulated that if this was not a
unanimous vote, this matter would not go before the voters.
Commissioner Genter made the motion and Commissioner Short
seconded the motion. Role call vote was taken, Genter, yes;
Short, yes; Barnaby, no. Motion carried 2-1, however due to the
stipulations put in place, this matter will not go in front of
the voters at this time. Resolution 2007-685. |
