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State of the county strong, budget remains a challenge
SCOTT PIEPHO
Legal News Reporter
Published: April 4, 2013
Marking the beginning of his second full term, Summit County Executive Russ Pry delivered his sixth state of the county address before a packed house Wednesday, March 27. Speaking before more than 600 elected officials, county employees and civic leaders at the John S. Knight Center, Pry acknowledged the county’s continuing fiscal challenges and outlined how his administration seeks to meet them.
“It should come as no surprise to everyone here, that the most pressing issue facing the county today is the economy” and its effect on the budget, said Pry. He cited a number of promising trends – increasing consumer spending and sales tax collections, a healthier real estate market and increasing construction – concluding that the employment rate in Summit County in 2012 was better than both state and national averages.
Notwithstanding the improved outlook, Pry said county general revenues continue to fall, primarily because of reductions in investment income, decreasing property values and cuts in “local government revenue sharing from the state of Ohio.” He said revenues dropped by $2.9 million in 2012 and overall the county has seen a $15 million drop from 2007 to 2012.
To respond to the decline, Pry said the county has worked to cut the budget without affecting services.
Beginning in 2009 “my administration put together a plan to address the anticipated loss of general fund revenue,” said Pry. “To date, we have stuck to the plan and have actually reduced general fund spending even further than originally anticipated as revenues have continued to drop.”
As a result, he said, the county has protected its bond rating and operates on the second smallest sales tax rate in the state.
With this in mind, Pry focused on two key solutions: finding more ways to save money while expanding the work of the county.
He said that despite the budget cuts, the county was able to “promote and fund economic development projects like the Goodyear Headquarters and Innovation Center, Bridgestone Technical Center and the Austen BioInnovation Institute Headquarters.
As long as the state doesn’t make deeper cuts, Pry said they should be able to manage.
“The greatest hope is that we will be left alone and the greatest fear is that we won't,” Pry said, noting that the state has yet to make it clear whether funds will be further slashed.
It is this combination of a challenging economy and decreasing revenue which poses challenges particularly for social services, Pry said. He touted his administration’s record for the 2012 collaboration between Job and Family Services and Summit County Public Health that created “an adult protective services community model” to protect vulnerable seniors from abuse and neglect.
“First Things First,” a collaboration between the county, the courts and the Akron Public School District, is another successful effort, Pry said, that focuses on early childhood. Last year the initiative identified maternal depression as a serious problem, prompting the Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Board to establish new programs to address the problem, he said,
However, Pry said promoting these efforts remains a major obstacle. He said he hopes the launch of Summit Kid's Month in August will help draw more attention to some of these programs. This year’s event will focus on infant mortality, a problem that has Ohio ranked 11th worst state in the country.
Also on the agenda, Pry discussed computer upgrades that will allow designers and builders to submit plans and permit applications online. Beta testing begins this month, “and once we have worked out any bugs, we will provide online permitting for the entire construction industry.”
The Summit County Land Bank, which begins acquiring property this year, remains a top priority, Pry said. The program is designed to begin demolishing abandoned, blighted homes to help preserve neighborhoods and stabilize property prices.
On the horizon are plans to relocate of the Department of Job and Family Services. Currently, most department offices are scattered among three buildings north of Market Street in downtown Akron, plus the Job Center on Tallmadge Avenue. As a result, Pry said the office is fragmented and inefficient, sometimes requiring clients to visit different buildings in the course of obtaining services.
He said the buildings are in the middle of the biomedical corridor and thus could theoretically be put to more productive use. “The recent renovation of the lower half of one of our buildings into the ABIA headquarters shows the promise that exists for that area.”
Pry also announced that he is redirecting the Department of Environmental Services towards building sanitary sewers in “areas ripe for development.” In particular, the department is looking at projects in Hudson and Green as part of the CAK International Business Park and the village of Clinton.”
He noted that the Summit County Trail and Greenway program has completed all 41 planned miles of Towpath in the county. Similarly, he lauded successes of Canton Akron Airport, The Akron Canton Regional Food Bank and The Akron Zoo. He praised Summit County Animal Control for the lowest euthanasia rate and highest adoption rate of any major urban county.
Pry credited the people of Summit County as the reason the area is thriving at a time when so many other urban areas are struggling.
"The state of the county is strong because of its people and I thank you very much."