After the Daily Record's press deadline last night, the Conference Committee settled on the details for the next state budget that takes effect July 1. The final vote could come as early as tomorrow. What's at stake for Orrville? Our share of $865 million in cuts to local government funds as well as grant dollars we rely on for expenses like repairing our roads. I'm sure more details will come out today and we'll probably have something more official coming out at next Tuesday's City Council meeting.
Meanwhile, Orrville has a state-mandated deadline to submit next year's budget, so we've been working on a budget without knowing what the cuts to our finding will be. "Challenging and uncertain," is how one adminstration member termed it at our budget workshop last night.
Highlights for next year include a complete replacement of Mineral Springs street next year at an estimated cost of $1 million. Since our entire Capital Improvements budget is only $1.5 million, Ohio Public Works Commission grant funding is essential. Ella Street is on the slate for 2013.
Bobby Warren once again proves why he's one of the best reporters in the area by tracking unemployment trends in Wayne and Holmes County against the stimulus bill timeline in today's Daily Record. We're seeing slight ticks downward and in my view it's too soon to see much of a correlation between the stimulus bill and our employment numbers. There was very little spending in our area, so we get the second or third-level impacts. (Isn't government stimulus spending just another form of trickle-down economics?)
A theme picked up in the story is the kind of job that is typically being created nowadays, best summarized by the CNC machinist. Part machinist, part programmer--not just a button pusher, but doesn't require a college degree either. These kinds of jobs can't be done by robots or by Chinese slaves, so we're finding a niche here for them. Best of luck to you if you're raising a family on the wages though and union reps need not apply. (One topic for future research is the impact of these kinds of job on our society, which virtually guarantee 2-income homes and little real savings.)
Side note: Commissioner Scott Wiggam says businesses tell him their main competitor is the unemployment bureau.
It seems we have reached some agreement here in Orrville on a sandwich sign ordinance. Why do we need to regulate something that isn't causing any problems? Well, because technically you aren't even allowed to have sandwich board signs on the sidewalks as it is now. The new ordinance up for vote next Tuesday will make all of you sign posters law abiding citizens once again.
The PNC Bank clock now has its own Facebook page, created by Clockwatcher Kristin Lorson. As reported last night, the temperature was a very comfortable J8 degrees, which is another reason living here in The Promised Land is oh-so comfortable!
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