LISBON — Columbiana County commissioners will need to cut $2.6 million from next year’s general fund budget when they approve the 2024 appropriations in the fall.

That’s because the general fund budget requests totaled $25,650,742, an amount larger than the expected general fund revenue, which totaled $23,038,230 in the 2024 county tax budget adopted by commissioners on Wednesday.

Last year, the amount that needed to be cut from this year’s tax budget totaled $1.2 million.

“No one can predict this economy,” Commissioner Mike Halleck said, adding “we seem to be on the edge of a recession every other month.”

The tax budget is often referred to as the wish list. Departments dependent on the general fund make requests for what they want, then commissioners whittle the numbers down to what they can provide based on the expected income, much of which comes from the sales tax.

“Our revenues have increased,” Halleck said, commenting that all those Amazon trucks making deliveries are helping with the sales tax since they’re able to charge sales tax in Ohio.

If a recession happens, adjustments may have to be made, but Halleck said “I look forward to a stable year.”

During Wednesday’s meeting, representatives from both the Columbiana Soil and Water Conservation District and the Columbiana County Veterans Service Commission made presentations in support of requested increases to their general fund allocations.

Columbiana Soil and Water Conservation District Program Administrator Pete Conkle reviewed the district’s annual report and talked about a desire to hire a full-time agriculture technician as part of a restructuring of duties. He noted that former administrative assistant Lindsay Shore left and besides him, there are two other full-time employees, both with less than a year on the job. Sophia Sorboro, who serves as the Little Beaver Creek Watershed coordinator, started in December 2022 and John Beilhart started in March as the Wildlife and Forestry specialist.

Having a full-time agricultural technician to work with farmers could pull in more grant dollars to the county, he said. The duties for the new position would include writing conservation plans to qualify farmers for federal funding, conduct farm visits to provide farmers with technical assistance regarding nutrient management plans, contour strips, no-till planting and cover crops, collect soil tests, manage the no-till drill program, work with the county’s GIS office to identify agricultural areas that need conservation practices installed and work on H2Ohio programs that are coming.

Last year, commissioners gave the district $93,400 and Conkle told them “we really appreciate that support.”

This year, he said with a little bit more from the county, which would then be matched by the state of Ohio, they could get someone for the ag position. He asked for an increase of $15,000 to $18,000.

“That’s not unreasonable,” Halleck said.

Debra Smith, executive director of the Columbiana County Veterans Service Commission, highlighted some of the reasons for an increase to their budget allocation, noting the continued increase to the cost of operating the van transportation program to take veterans to clinics, with many of those trips going to Cleveland. Plans call for purchasing a new van to replace a 2016 Ford Transit van that has lots of miles and repairs and she said they’re anticipating an estimate of $90,000 for the cost.

The commission is also seeing an increase in new veterans being served, averaging 37 never seen before veterans every month the past 10 months. The PACT Act opened up more opportunities for veterans to obtain benefits from exposure to toxic hazards, such as burn pits, radiation and Agent Orange. The average client load for each service officer was 266 last month and is growing.

Two new service officers in training have been hired, so there will be additional costs during the 18-month training period.

The commission received $961,400 for this year and put in a request for $1,212,100 for 2024, which represents the .5 mill allowed by the Ohio Revised Code.

Some of the key figures Smith quoted related to Veterans Administration spending in the county included: a population of 7,184 veterans; a total federal VA expenditure within the county, including healthcare, at $83 million; and an increase of $14.6 million in VA spending from the previous period.

mgreier@salemnews.net