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LISBON -- Columbiana County Auditor Nancy Gause Milliken stressed the need for the sales tax Tuesday, noting the actual cash carryover of $7,881,342 in the general fund from 2024 to start 2025 is about $1.9 million less than the previous cash carryover when 2024 started.
The income from the 1% sales tax and the .5% sales tax also came in less last year than the previous year, a decrease of almost $300,000.
In recent years, the cash carryover in the general fund has been plentiful.
"I think it's due to the commissioners being very frugal with the appropriations. We are trying to watch every penny spent because we are so worried about the sales tax," she said during an interview about the carryover.
There were only two months left in the year when voters gave a resounding no to the 1% sales tax renewal on the Nov. 5 ballot, with commissioners attributing the loss to the ballot language, which didn't clearly state that that ballot question was a continuation of an existing tax.
The 1% sales tax doesn't expire until the end of 2025, so commissioners have two more chances to get the sales tax passed for another five years. During today's commissioners' meeting, the first of two public hearings will be held at 9:05 a.m. regarding the sales tax, with a second hearing at 9:05 a.m. Jan. 15 in the commissioners' meeting room at the downtown courthouse in Lisbon.
Milliken said she worked with commissioners to make sure the carryover was substantial. The carryover represents the cash money left at the end of the year in the general fund. The general fund relies heavily on the sales tax, with the general fund paying for operations in most of the county offices, including the commissioners, treasurer, auditor, recorder, all the courts, clerk of courts, sheriff, housing of prisoners and prosecutor.
The cash carryover to kick off 2024 was the largest since Milliken has been there, a total of $9,787,147. At the time, she said the sales tax was strong in 2023 and that's why the carryover was fairly large at the end of 2023. She also said during that interview a year ago that without the sales tax, the county would be in despair. At the time, she had no idea what was going to happen with the sales tax several months later.
"I want the general public to know this is not an additional tax -- it's a renewal of the sales tax that's in effect now," Milliken said.
According to the figures she provided, the total sales tax income for 2024 totaled $21,423,016, with the 1% sales tax generating $14,281,881 and the .5% sales tax generating $7,141,135.
In 2023, the 1% sales tax generated $14,468,375 and the .5% sales tax generated $7,234,685 for a total of more than $21.7 million. That's nearly $1 million more than the previous year in 2022 when the 1% generated $13,856,638 and the .5% generated $6,939,783 for a total of more than $20.7 million. The figure from 2023 is also more than the 2024 amount.
The general fund also relies on interest income, casino funds and other income, but the majority comes from the sales tax receipts.
For 2024, the original estimate of resources for the general fund totaled $23,038,230, but by the end of the year, the available resources totaled $37,964,822. The actual spending for 2024 was $34,074,167, which was an increase from the $30,760,496 spent in 2023. For 2024, the commissioners originally appropriated $22,442,578 for the general fund, then there were adjustments throughout the year as income was received.
As a practice, Milliken explained that the commissioners appropriate less in the general fund than what's certified for spending, then appropriate more to the offices as needed throughout the year as the receipts come in and they know how much is actually there.
The 2025 appropriations approved for the general fund totaled $23,096,694, based on estimated revenue of $23,099,230. With the cash carryover, Milliken said the amount available for the general fund now totals $32,033,061.
She said the commissioners have the option to not appropriate the carryover until they see how the year is going and how the sales tax is doing. If the sales tax would fail at the ballot, she predicted the commissioners would only appropriate more money for emergencies to try to protect the general fund.
Milliken said there have been discussions with commissioners and services will be cut if the sales tax does not pass.
"This is a very serious situation because we depend on the sales tax to fund the departments," she said.
She used her own office as an example, noting that the auditor's office does all the payroll for the county government and pays all the bills. If they have to cut back, she's not sure how they'll get payroll done and pay the bills.
The sales tax has been in place for many, many years, but at one time, the commissioners were having difficulty getting it approved and times were tough, so they made a deal with the people, agreeing to stop collecting the 2 mills of property tax from inside millage the county was entitled to collect.
Property owners have been experiencing that discount for at least 20 years or more.
Milliken said that if commissioners decided to collect the 2 mills again, based on current property values, they would collect a total of $5,069,200 and that would mean a $61.25 per year tax increase for the owner of a home valued at $100,000.
Commissioners have not mentioned the idea of revisiting the 2 mills. The amount generated would only make up about one-third of what the 1% sales tax generates per year.