February 27, 2011
County prepares second 911 call center By SARAH SOLE ThisWeek Community Newspapers
Photos by Lorrie Cecil/ThisWeek
(Above) Delaware County sheriff Walter Davis points to a monitor in the control room during a tour of the recently renovated county jail on Friday, Feb. 25. (Below) Davis discusses the new dorm facilities as director Joseph Lynch watches.
County jail renovation adds 96 beds By SARAH SOLE ThisWeek Community Newspapers
Delaware County has finished second-floor renovations that will add 96 beds to its jail. The project, estimated at a little more than $2-million, also included parking lot improvements and first-floor maintenance. The sally port area, where prisoners enter and leave the facility, also was expanded. R.W. Setterlin Building Co. started construction in March 2010. Funding for the project came from bonds and also from revenue the county gets for housing federal prisoners on a temporary basis. County sheriff Walter Davis said Delaware County’s growing population has increased the jail’s average population. Prior to the renovation, the facility dealt with overcrowding by
Delaware County will secure the equipment necessary to provide a backup location in Orange Township for 911 call center operations. Commissioners on Feb. 21 approved the addition of $117,173 to the $656,425 contract between the county and Windstream Communications, a equipment dealer in Columbus. Funding for the equipment comes from the five-year, 0.45-mill operating levy for county 911 services that expires at the end of the year and from cell phone surcharges allocated by the state. A backup location for 911 communications became necessary after the county switched to a new phone system, Frontier Communications. The 911 system’s dispatchers and equipment currently are in a county building at 10 Court St., said emergency communications director Bob Greenlaw. The Court Street location probably would take a couple of weeks to replace if it went out of action, Greenlaw said. With the second site in Orange, operations would continue virtually uninterrupted. The Court Street center could be shut down by “something simple,” he said, such as a broken pipe. As a matter of routine, equipment at the Orange Township location at 7700 Gooding Blvd. will be operating but unmanned, Greenlaw said. That would ensure its rapid use if it is needed. The county made an agreement with the township to use the space in the lower part of the building. “It gives us a place to go if this place becomes uninhabitable,” Greenlaw said. The Orange Township facility will get six laptops to enable remote
See COUNTY JAIL, page A2
See DELAWARE PREPARES, page A2
Delaware City Schools
Estate-tax elimination
Treasurer cites Sunbury receives short reprieve financial challenges A closer look By SARAH SOLE
ThisWeek Community Newspapers
By SARAH SOLE
ThisWeek Community Newspapers
Delaware City Schools officials say they will have a better idea about the district’s finances by spring’s end, but the budget clearly is tight. The next fiscal year, starting July 1, has a projected $1.4-million deficit, financial director Chris Blue told ThisWeek. January’s operations expenditures were $142,025 higher than projected. Total expenditures are nearly 2 percent higher than projected for this point in the year. Though total operational receipts are 3.8 percent higher than projected, Blue said overall revenue
is still low. Blue delivered January’s financial report to the board during their Feb. 22 meeting at the District Technology Center. The projected numbers come from the district spending plan that also uses figures from the district’s five-year forecast. Blue told ThisWeek the district will get a better picture of the budget after May. Compared to the five-year forecast, the district’s income is $865,655 higher than projected for the fiscal year, Blue said. She said she thinks that’s a temporary trend.
Sunbury officials have a little while longer until they have to deal with revenue shortages caused by the elimination of the estate tax. Though the Ohio House of Representatives has been considering legislation that would end the tax, it’s expected to do it gradually, phasing out the tax starting in 2013. Ohio has the lowest estate tax exemption in the United States. Just $338,333 of the taxable estate is exempt from the estate tax, compared to an average exemption amount of about $1.7-million for other states that have one, state officials have said. State Rep. Andy Brenner, who is cosponsoring the repeal bill, said he knew there would be some sort of compromise.
Ohio has the lowest estate tax exemption in the United States. Just $338,333 of the taxable estate is exempt from the estate tax, compared to an average exemption amount of about $1.7-million for other states that have one.
“I think that’s giving consideration to local governments,” he said of the 2013 timetable. Brenner said from a moral standpoint, he doesn’t think the state should tax estates. The estate tax could influence someone’s decision to do business within the state, he said, saying Ohio needs to once again be-
come competitive. Brenner also called the estate tax unreliable. “You can’t budget for it,” he said, saying the tax is not a large part of most budgets. The estate tax was 4.1 percent of Sunbury’s general fund budget in 2010, said village administrator Dave Martin. Martin said the village would more than likely Dave Martin look at spending cuts to make up for the difference rather than asking for a tax increase. Still, the additional time until the proposed bill would begin makes it difficult See SUNBURY GETS, page A2
See CHALLENGES, page A2 Bonnie is up for adoption at All Tails ‘R’ Waggin in Pataskala. Her brother recently found a home but she is still waiting. To see a video of Bonnie, visit www.ThisWeekNews. com. For more information on adopting Bonnie, visit alltails.com or call (740) 927-0555.
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