MANSFIELD — Tony Vero offered a positive “by-the-numbers” look at Richland County finances on Monday.
Speaking during the Richland County Republican Party’s monthly luncheon, Vero used 30 “number” slides to point how the county’s financial picture has improved under he and fellow commissioners Darrell Banks and Marilyn John.
Vero, a first-term commissioner, is opposed in the March 17 Republican primary by David Morgenstern. There is no Democrat in the race, so the primary winner will likely be commissioner when the new term begins in January.
In his presentation, Vero pointed to the county’s solid financial performance earning Richland County its highest-ever bond rating in November.
“That (AA-) bond rating will save Richland County taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars,” Vero said Monday.
Vero said commissioners and other elected officials had held the line on spending during good economic times of increased revenue.
County governments in Ohio relies heavily upon sales tax, reflecting 58 percent of the Richland County general fund revenue of $34.7 million in 2019.
The financial discipline, he said, was a $5 million carryover in 2020 and a $1.3 million “rainy day” fund, which Vero said are the largest in county history.
The Lexington resident said the increased cash reserves are not coming at the expense of capital projects. From 2017 through the end of 2020, Vero said, commissioners have approved capital expenditures of $2.4 million.
He said $1.3 million of that is going to relocate, renovate and upgrade the county’s 9-1-1 dispatch center within the Peoples Community Center and also to move forward with a new county-wide digital emergency radio system.
Vero also pointed to general fund expenses over which commissioners have little control, including $4.2 million for county-employee health care costs in 2019 and $2.6 million in pension benefits.
“Those two (expenditures) amount to one-fifth of the total county general fund,” Vero said.
John, chair of the local Republican Party, also announced Monday the party’s annual Lincoln Day Dinner will be April 23 at the Dan Lew Exchange.
