Seneca County reports record-high sales tax revenue for January

Tiffin, Ohio — The Seneca County Board of Commissioners received positive financial news on Thursday morning, as County Fiscal Officer Barb Patterson reported record-high sales tax revenue for January.

According to Patterson, the county received $1,004,187.29 in sales tax revenue for January, which includes tax receipts primarily from the month of November. This is the highest sales tax total for January in the county’s history, and is attributed to a combination of inflation and an increase in the price of goods. The January figure represents an increase of about $95,000 from the same period in 2022, and an increase of about $24,000 from the previous month’s report.

This positive news comes on the heels of an excellent 2022 for the county, as sales tax revenue reached a record-high of $11,544,301.65.

In other business, the commissioners received an update from Mike Dittoe, of High Bridge Consulting. High Bridge is contracted by the county to provide lobbying services in Columbus. Dittoe reported that things are busy in the state capital, and that a big upcoming date to watch is January 31st, when Governor Mike DeWine is scheduled to present his State of the State address and release the first iteration of the 2023-2024 operating budget. Dittoe added that the budget will likely see several changes before it is due on June 30th, and that he and his team will continue to keep the board of commissioners updated as the process moves forward.

Commissioner Anthony Paradiso also asked Dittoe for an update on High Bridge’s efforts to work with legislators to classify third-service emergency medical services as “essential” in the state. Such legislation could open up more federal and state grant opportunities for third-service EMS departments, such as Seneca County and Sandusky County EMS, and could come at no additional cost to the state. Dittoe reported that a meeting is being scheduled soon with State Representative Gary Click and his staff to continue making progress on the issue.

Lastly, Paradiso reported that he had a meeting with stakeholders about a county-wide housing study that the commissioners agreed to help fund in November. The $14,000 study is being administered by DiSalvo Development Advisors, which also worked with the city of Tiffin on a housing study in 2019.

The Tiffin-Seneca Economic Partnership’s CEO Aaron Montz previously thanked the commissioners for supporting the study, stating that the lack of housing units is a major local issue, with a need for 450-550 units in the city alone. “We don’t need someone to come in and build five homes, we need them to come in and build 500 homes,” Montz said last November.

Paradiso noted that the need for housing units county-wide could be as many as 1,000.