County could set record sales tax collection

CELINA - Mercer County is poised to set a sales tax record for the ninth consecutive year, according to Mercer County Auditor Randy Grapner.

Also, in spite of excessive adversity faced by residents and officials from the Memorial Day tornado and torrential spring flooding, the county looks like it will end the year on budget, Grapner pointed out on Thursday morning at the annual meeting of elected and appointed officials.

"Thanks to all our departments and your frugal approach to spending, we maintain a good, solid budget," Grapner asserted. "We're all challenged with being good stewards of the taxpayer dollars, and you're doing a good job of that."

Grapner said the county's sales tax collections are on track to finish the year 4% higher than in 2018. If that trend holds true, the general fund sales tax would surpass $6 million and the adult detention facility sales tax would surpass $3 million, he told the newspaper.

He attributed the healthy figures to the county's unemployment rate - consistently the lowest in the state - and confidence in the economy.

The general fund sales tax in fiscal year 2018 brought in $5.87 million while the adult detention facility sales tax brought in $2.88 million, together adding up to $8.75 million.

Mercer County's sales tax rate is 1.5%; 1% goes directly into the general fund while 0.5% is used each year to pay down the debt on and maintain the adult detention center/sheriff's office, west of Celina. The combined state and county sales tax rate is 7.25%.

The adult detention center/sheriff's office opened in 2010. The debt should be fully paid off in 2022, according to Grapner.

The general fund sales tax collection is the county's biggest revenue stream, constituting about 43% of its budget.

Moving on to the county's general fund budget, which pays for the government's day-to-day operations, officials noted that both revenue and expenses are up through the third quarter compared with the same time last year. In the first nine months of the year, the general fund took in $10.54 million, an uptick of $76,859, and saw expenditures of $10.72 million, a sizable spike of $1.14 million.

Commissioner Greg Homan cited equipment and capital-project costs as the main culprits of the spending surge.

"And what that reflects … was a need for us at the county to put some effort into capital and equipment," Homan said. "Some of those kind of expenses get delayed or put on the back burner for a number of years."

Homan noted a few examples, including $248,000 toward the purchase of a new voting system for the board of elections, nearly half a million dollars worth of new radios for the sheriff's office and Emergency Medical Services personnel and a $317,741 upgrade of the Mercer County Central Services Building's heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system.

Also, Grapner pointed to additional expenses racked up in the aftermath of the Memorial Day tornado and spring flooding, namely additional payroll and equipment costs associated with cleanup efforts.

"We had excessive adversity and expenses pertaining to those natural disasters that we had to deal with," Grapner said. "We had to dig into other funds in order to cover some of the problems that we had earlier this year but we're in relatively good shape."

Attendees on Thursday morning also,

• learned from Grapner that the county will take in $500,000 this year from casino tax revenue, a 2% increase from 2018. Since 2012, close to $3 million in casino tax allocations has poured into the county's coffers, giving commissioners another important revenue stream to balance the budget each year.

As with the county's sales tax, casino revenue isn't earmarked for a specific purpose. Rather, as with most local governments and school districts, the money heads straight into the general fund for operating expenses.

• learned from Grapner that the county government's credit rating was upgraded a notch from A1 to Aa3, which officials said indicates strong fiscal management and a burgeoning local economy

"This increase is the first since the mid-1970s for Mercer County," Grapner said. "It's the highest that we can get unless we do something crazy like double our population."

• learned that country treasurer David Wolters reduced the delinquent real estate taxes from 1.5% to 0.8%, recapturing roughly $250,000. That was made possible through partnership with a nationwide lien purchaser.

Tax Ease essentially purchased delinquent taxes, interest and fees owed to the county. Affected taxpayers then entered into a monthly payment plan with Tax Ease, which secures its collateral by placing a lien on the properties.

"All our colleagues throughout northwestern Ohio would love to get down to 1.5%," Grapner said.

• learned Grapner's office in 2020 will begin a triennial revaluation of assessed property values that will impact property owners in collection year 2021. His office last re-evaluated real estate in 2017 that showed a dramatic reduction in agricultural property assessments and a moderate increase in residential assessments.

"Because of recent fast-paced real estate market, all indications are the values are going to increase," Grapner said.

• learned from sheriff Jeff Grey that his office, like other law enforcement agencies across the nation, is struggling to find qualified candidates for jobs. His office has openings in law enforcement, corrections and information technology.