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Restoring Local Government Funds has been an ongoing objective for the Ohio Municipal League since it was eliminated in 2011, according to OML Executive Director Kent Scarrett.
Scarrett said he will be testifying before the house finance committee today as lawmakers work on the next state budget.
Scarrett said the state’s rainy day fund has nearly reached its statutory capacity at approximately $2.7 billion.
“The sun is definitely shining for the state financially, but for many of our communities it’s raining cats and dogs,” Scarrett said.
Scarrett said municipalities across the state are passing resolutions similar to Xenia’s. He said there are newly elected state representatives who have seen first-hand the impacts from the state cuts.
“We have a governor now hwo is willing to talk about it,” Scarrett said. “He’s very familiar with what these cuts mean to our communities. The previous administration just was not interested in bringing LGFs back.”
City records show that Xenia council members have passed similar resolutions each year since 2016.
City Manager Brent Merriman said there is broad statewide support to restore funding in the current legislative season.
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“The state has balanced its budget and has built up a very hefty rainy day fund following the reduction of the local government funds, much to the detriment of communities across the state,” Merriman said. “These are resources that were given up by localities decades ago in an exchange that the state would then utilize those resources and distribute them across the state … For the state to have come back in the last decade and undercut that agreement and set it aside has really had devastating effects on local communities.”
Annual revenue from the state to Xenia is down more than $1 million when calculating other cuts, including the estate tax and tangible personal property tax reimbursements, according to Xenia Finance Director Ryan Duke.
Council members are urging residents to contact the offices of Gov. DeWine and their representatives to push for the funds to be restored.
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