State officials consider ways to boost highway construction funding

Jan. 19, 2012, Marion Star

By Jessica Alaimo

CentralOhio.com

The Ohio Department of Transportation needs more money if it’s going to put a dent in the list of necessary construction projects around Ohio, state officials say.

On Tuesday the department issued a list of projects that it currently has the means to fund — and it painted a dismal picture, with some projects delayed for nearly a generation.

“If Ohioans are saying, ‘We can’t live with that,’ we have to come up with additional revenue for construction projects,” said state Rep. Jay Hottinger, R-Newark.

State pushes back funding for major road projects

Jan. 18, 2012, Marion Star

By Jessica Alaimo

CentralOhio.com

It will take Ohio until 2036 to complete its top priority transportation projects.

As for the construction dates on second-priority projects, which include efforts in Licking, Pickaway and Marion counties?

“After that,” said Steve Faulkner, spokesman for the Ohio Department of Transportation.

The Ohio Department of Transportation on Tuesday released the Transportation Review Advisory Council's draft list of projects to be funded starting in 2013. The list is much shorter than previous versions.

Ohio bucks trend, shifts funds to home-based care

July 16, 2011, Port Clinton News Herald

By Jessica Alaimo

CentralOhio.com

While budget shortfalls have forced many states to move away from home-based care, Ohio is shifting toward it.

However, all providers, regardless of their setting, saw a decrease in Medicaid reimbursement rates this month.

Gov. John Kasich’s first two-year budget, which began July 1, decreases Medicaid reimbursements for nursing homes and increases funding for home-based care.

With no state mandate, Ohio’s gifted children may see services cut

June 4, 2011, Port Clinton News Herald

By Jessica Alaimo

CentralOhio.com

Rayne Wilson hid behind his mom on the couch, scared to talk to the company in the room.

His younger brother explained a computer game where players build a world around four basic elements. It requires math. It requires logic.

“I only made it to Level 2,” 6-year-old Brayson said.

The urge to brag finally was enough to break his silence.

“I made it to Level 11,” Rayne said.

When it comes to anything numerical or measurable, Rayne is brilliant. At age 7, he knows the full multiplication table. Give him a date two years out, he’ll tell you what day of the week it falls on — even accounting for the leap year. One day he visited his brother’s karate studio. His mother saved the map of the room that he drew from memory — done to scale.

Rayne is fortunate. Next year, a gifted specialist at Bucyrus Elementary School will work with him and his teachers to accommodate his skills. He’ll be in second grade, but move up to a third-grade math class.

Across the state, however, budget-crunched school districts are cutting their gifted staff, and the proposed state budget could eliminate dedicated gifted students.

Ohio House to vote on budget changes

May 5, 2011, Fremont News-Messenger

By Jessica Alaimo

Special to the News-Messenger

The revised version of Gov. John Kasich’s budget contains both good and bad news for local governments.

The good: A House committee eased proposed cuts to tangible personal property tax reimbursements, increased aid to schools, and provided funds to help local entities share services.

The bad: The new legislation repeals the estate tax, cutting off one revenue stream for local governments. It also reverses a proposal by Kasich that would have lessened local entities’ pension obligations.

Kasich and Republican legislators, who have the majority in both houses, must mend an $8 billion budget gap in the next state biennium. To keep repeated promises to voters, they must do so without raising taxes.

Local governments get more details on cuts

Apr. 21, 2011, Newark Advocate

By Jessica Alaimo

CentralOhio.com

Ohio municipal governments found out more details last week about the steep cuts they could face under Gov. John Kasich’s proposed budget.

The Ohio Department of Taxation released figures showing the depth of the cuts from the proposed accelerated phase-out of state reimbursements for certain taxes for Ohio’s counties, cities, villages and townships.

Kasich’s proposal also calls for the local government fund, which provides state assistance to government entities, to be cut in half by the end of the next biennium.

State tax revenues exceed estimates

Apr. 13, 2011, Marion Star

By Jessica Alaimo

CentralOhio.com

Ohio’s General Revenue Fund is slowly getting healthier.

Tax revenues collected in March exceeded expectations by $157 million, according to the state’s monthly financial report released Tuesday.

Among the highlights:

» Income tax collections exceeded expectations by $80 million.

» Sales tax collections exceeded expectations by $69 million.

» Corporate franchise taxes exceeded expectations by $21 million.

Tiberi: Interim budget likely to be adopted

Apr. 12, 2011, Newark Advocate

By Jessica Alaimo

CentralOhio.com

This year’s federal spending debate will be a drama in three acts, said U.S. Rep. Pat Tiberi, who represents part of Licking County.

The first act concluded early Saturday, when Congress passed an 11th-hour deal averting a federal government shutdown. The stopgap measure includes about $39 billion in cuts.

The second debate also is under way, with the release of the Republican budget proposal for federal fiscal year 2012 last week.

Finally, this summer or fall, Congress will decide whether to raise the federal debt ceiling.

Official: Federal budget cuts would gut Ohio poison control centers

Apr. 1, 2011, Newark Advocate

By Jessica Alaimo

CentralOhio.com

The Central Ohio Poison Control Center — frequently a lifeline for those poisoned by opiates and addictive prescription drugs — stands to lose almost one-third of its funding under the proposed federal budget.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the first version of the budget in February. Among the cuts were $27.3 million — 90 percent of funding — to poison control centers nationwide, according to the American Association of Poison Control Centers.

As poison control awareness week concluded last week, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, called for a full restoration of funding to the centers. He has an unusual ally — Attorney General Mike DeWine, a former Republican senator defeated in 2006 by Brown.

DeWine authored the legislation establishing a national poison control hot line in 2002.

School districts learn how deep state cuts might be

Mar. 30, 2011, Marion Star

BY JESSICA ALAIMO

CentralOhio.com

Local school officials figured they would have less state and federal aid in 2012. Tuesday, they learned what the cuts could be.

Last week, Gov. John Kasich touted more state aid for local districts. However, the slight increases in state foundation aid don’t make up for what school districts stand to lose from the expiration of stimulus funds and an accelerated phase-out of the personal property tax reimbursement.

The Office of Budget and Management unveiled projections of how much less schools would get from the reimbursements under Kasich’s proposed budget.

Faced with state cuts, governments urged to consolidate

Jan. 29, 2011, Newark Advocate

BY JESSICA ALAIMO

CentralOhio.com

NEWARK — Ohio sends millions to government agencies in Licking County each year for both day-to-day operations and special projects. However, as lawmakers struggle to close an $8 billion budget deficit, the future of subsidies to local schools, counties and cities is up in the air.

This year, legislators might push consolidation efforts, urging governments to share services with their neighbors.

Licking County agencies received $298.3 million from the state in fiscal year 2010 to run schools and local government services. In addition, $27.8 million in state funds was used for capital expenses, according to the state’s Legislative Service Commission.

No one is sure how this number will change as Ohio lawmakers scramble to mend the budget gap.

GOP looks to end Ohio estate tax

Jan. 12, 2011, Newark Advocate

BY JESSICA ALAIMO AND RUSS ZIMMER

CentralOhio.com

COLUMBUS — A bill was introduced Tuesday at the Statehouse to eliminate Ohio’s estate tax, also known ominously as “the death tax” by its detractors.

The state’s estate tax is the strictest in the nation, said state Rep. Jay Hottinger, R-Newark, one of the bill’s sponsors.

Although the federal government doesn’t tax estates worth less than $5 million, Ohio starts taxing estates at $338,000. This includes everything: cash assets, property, land and machinery.

Hottinger and state Rep. Cheryl Grossman, R-Grove City, rolled out a plan Tuesday to repeal the tax at a Statehouse news conference. Gov. John Kasich also supports the measure.

School budgets face uncertain future

Aug. 22, 2010, Fremont News-Messenger

BY JESSICA ALAIMO

Special to the News-Messenger

Like many educators across the state, those at Elgin Local Schools are returning to school with a certain uneasiness.

The district barely averted layoffs this year, and officials do not know what kinds of cuts the state will make to education in the next two years or how local revenue might change.

“It’s really scary,” Superintendent Bruce Gast said. “This district has been through so many cuts. We’re being as cautious as we can, and then more cautious. ... All our employees understand there is uncertainty.”

By October, every school treasurer must submit a five-year forecast to the Ohio Department of Education, estimating revenues and expenditures through 2015. While they submit only one plan, the education department advises districts to plan for three scenarios — steady, bad and catastrophic.

Many treasurers contend they might as well use a Magic 8 Ball to answer the following questions when compiling their forecasts:

Travel is pricey for public workers

Apr. 11, 2010, Marion Star

By Jessica Alaimo and Russ Zimmer

CentralOhio.com

While some money-crunched Ohioans enjoyed the full “staycation” experience in 2008 and 2009, many public employees took business trips.

However, some of these business trips were to Disney World, Palm Springs and points in between, and frequently involved stays at luxury hotels and meals at top-notch restaurants.

It was all on your dime.

Cigarette tax a tough sell at Statehouse

Apr. 6, 2010, Port Clinton News Herald

BY RUSS ZIMMER

AND JESSICA ALAIMO

Special to the News Herald

Health advocates are pushing tobacco taxes as both a way to dissuade smoking and a means to bridge the state budget shortfall, but campaign concerns may stall any tax increases.

A growing number of states have been leaning on smokers to help plug budget holes, but no such plan is in the works for Ohio. For now, anyway.

Cash-strapped states are considering or enacting cigarette tax increases at a pace that has only been equaled in 10 other years since 1950.

Stimulus funding in Ottawa County: How big is our slice? Depends on how you cut the cake2

Feb. 27, 2010, Port Clinton News Herald

BY JESSICA ALAIMO

Special to the News Herald

PORT CLINTON — One year after the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act became law, it’s still tough to figure out exactly how many jobs it created or preserved in Ottawa County.

Depending on who is crunching the numbers, job-creation estimates range from four to 55. The amount of stimulus funding for the county’s municipalities and businesses is roughly $5 million.

The $787 billion package passed by Congress last February included:

■$288 billion for tax cuts and extended unemployment benefits.

■$224 billion in aid to state governments, funds for education, health care and entitlement programs.