State budget cuts hit small-town Ohio

[pinboy3niner]

Residents in Uniopolis wanted a balanced budget, and voted in Republican Gov. John Kasich to get the job done. But now the village is facing disincorporation because it can't stay afloat.

By Alana Semuels, Los Angeles Times

March 4, 2012
Reporting from Uniopolis, Ohio—

...


This small village of low-slung houses and squeaky swing sets in western Ohio's farm country has already laid off its part-time police officer and decided not to replace its maintenance worker, who recently retired. To save cash, Mayor William Rolston will propose Monday that the town turn off the street lights, and that Uniopolis disincorporate after more than a century in existence.

...


Ohio has been a battleground for budget issues. In 2010, it elected a Republican governor, John Kasich, who pledged to balance the state budget without raising taxes, an approach echoed by GOP presidential candidates circling the state before Tuesday's primary. In his budget, passed last summer, he eliminated the $8-billion deficit by slashing funding for local governments, among other things. In some towns, the new budget means a 25% reduction in state funding this year and a further 25% drop the year after.

...


The cuts were felt across the state: Auglaize County, where Uniopolis is located, lost $5 million in the new budget, according to Innovation Ohio, a left-leaning think tank. Cuyahoga County, the home of Cleveland, lost $230 million, and Hamilton County, where Cincinnati is located, lost $136 million, the think tank reported.


Around the state, police departments have laid off staff — in some cases, half of the officers. Police will no longer respond in person to theft calls if there are no witnesses, said Jay McDonald, head of the Fraternal Order of Police. About 166 school districts are projected to run deficits by 2014; many are scrambling to come up with cash by selling space for cellphone towers and charging students hundreds of dollars to participate in sports or extracurricular activities. The cuts came at the same time federal stimulus funding for schools ran out, dealing a double whammy for many communities.

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http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-ohio-cuts-20120304,0,6084585.story

[appleannie1]

1. They are getting what they voted for. You cannot run cities without revenue from taxes.

[FarPoint]

4. I'm sure they don't realize it yet...

They get their facts from Foxx Entertainment...they are clueless to the facts and scenario of GOP propaganda and politics...they'll still vote republican like they go through the drive thru at McDonald's.

[SpartanDem]

2. "many who supported Kasich say they didn't expect the cuts would reach their small hamlets."

Of course, they didn't they thought he was just going cut the lazy, welfare queens in (insert major city). Maybe these people will finally wake up.

[liberal N proud]

3. NIMBY

I want cuts to happen to everyone else.

They surely didn't expect the governor to turn on those who voted him into office.

[kestrel91316]

5. RWers gleefully drowning local governments in bathtubs.

And the people who voted them into office to do that are just scratching their heads wondering WTF has gone wrong with that plan.

[sunwyn]

6. Not all Ohioans voted for Kasich...Strickland

only lost by 2 percentage points