Engineer David DeChristofaro says Trumbull County has the third most miles of roadway to maintain in Ohio and the second most for bridges, but with no local license fees to help pay for repairs, the infrastructure is deteriorating.
Just this month, the Olive Street bridge, which connects Niles and McDonald, had to be closed. Concrete from the support piers are falling away, leaving steel rods exposed.
DeChristofaro is asking voters to approve a pair of $5 license fee measures, which would effect only those living in communities without their own road maintenance fees. He says the combined levies "would generate about $1.2 million to $1.5 million every year." That's money the engineer says could be leveraged to bring in even more from Columbus and Washington to fix as many as half a dozen bridges every year.
Heading south into Mahoning County, commissioners hope this will be the last time they have to ask voters to pass another half-percent sales tax. Although the county collects a full one percent in sales taxes, voters had been deciding half-percent increments every few years. In 2007, half of the tax was renewed as a continuing measure, and commissioners are hoping to do the same with the other half.
Mahoning County Commissioner Anthony Traficanti argues local government has been working to do with less. He says, "Where there was thirty employees in this year 2002, the county commissioners' office now has nine employees and everybody here's multi-tasking."
DeChristofaro admits without either or both of the license fee levies, his office will still be able to do some road and bridge repair, but not at the rate he claims the work needs to be done.
On the other hand, Traficanti claims that without that half-percent tax the county would lose roughly $14 million and would force cuts at the county jail and in other local services.
Friday, we'll conclude our election preview with a look at what a number of local communities are doing to hold the line on utility costs for their residents.
