Ross County — The commissioners are being asked to look into a small county tax that was originally shared with the townships, but was cut off around 2004 – in a time when the county has more income, and the townships have less.
The discussion centered around a half-percent “piggyback” tax was added to the 7% county sales tax in 1979, but was apparently cut off from the townships without proper procedure.
Jim Hatfield, president of the Ross County Trustee Association and of Jefferson Township, spoke with the Ross County Commissioners, along with president of Green Township Barry Bennett, on February 3rd. (Commissioner David Glass was absent.)
Hatfield said the commissioners had put the piggyback tax on the ballot but it lost. He said the commissioners then approached the townships for support, and voters passed it.
But part of the bargain was to distribute 12% of its revenues to the townships, said Hatfield – along with 50% to the county engineer and 2% to the county Health District. Ross County Engineer Ortman said his records imply the township’s share was cut off about 2004.
Hatfield said the two public hearings by the commissioners that were required for that action did not happen…but apparently no one noticed.
In the meantime, he and Bennett said – and the commissioners agreed – that the county is getting more revenue from other sources. For example, they discussed that thre solar farms in the county bring in probably $1.5M a year, $14M of federal ARPA funds have not been distributed to the townships or engineer, and the state has been sharing tax revenue from newly allowed casinos starting in 2012.
Bennett pointed out that although the county engineer continues to get his share of the piggyback tax, the townships also have to pay for part of road work in their territories, and costs for that are skyrocketing. The engineer helps the townships with roadwork, but his income for pavement has not increased.
Bennet chuckled about the $149.5K the county distributes to the 16 townships per road mileage, which he says is spread way too thin.
They agreed to take action before the Township Association meeting in April, and Hatfield will talk to the presidents of each township soon. They hope to get the funds freed up in next year’s budget.
The trustees said Engineer Ortman has been great to the trustees, and commissioner Jack Everson said good roads are an important part of tourism.
I also asked Hatfield about the Ross County EMS situation, after several big meetings to discuss the problem with widely varying ambulance coverage by townships. He said action is moving slowly…but moving.
He and Bennet pointed out that the four townships of Springfield, Liberty, Jefferson, and Green are talking about forming their own coalition for consistent EMS service.
Hear Hatfield and Bennett in their own words in the below video interview.
