Permissive sales tax receipts, upcoming Health Department events discussed at county commission meeting

Highland County commissioners David Daniels, Brad Roades and Terry Britton received the latest permissive sales tax receipt report, as well as an update on several upcoming events sponsored by the Highland County Health Department, during their Wednesday, Sept. 25 meeting.

Highland County Auditor Alex Butler reported that the county’s permissive sales tax totals this year compared to last year’s current-record totals, along with the monthly receipts collected in September 2024 compared to September 2023, are both trending over four-percent higher.

According to Butler, Highland County collected $869,984.39 in September 2024, up from $828,661.83 a year ago. Year to date, the county has now topped $7 million, with $7,350,827.99 collected through the first nine months of 2024.

“[Compared to] September of last year, that is 4.9-percent higher, and then year to date, over this time last year, we are 4.4-percent higher,” Butler said.

Daniels asked if the county has “met our anticipated resources for tax collections for this year” yet.

“We are close,” Butler said.

In other discussion, commissioners invited Highland County Health Commissioner Jared Warner to discuss several programs being offered by the Health Department through the end of October.

“We’ve got a busy month or so coming up with the Health Department,” Warner said.

The North High Business Center (1487 North High St., Hillsboro), which is home to the Health Department, is the host site for the Ross-Pickaway-Highland-Fayette Solid Waste District’s final tire and electric collection event of the year Saturday, Sept. 28 from 8 a.m.-noon. Passenger, truck, tractor and OTR tires, as well as computers, monitors, printers, TVs, servers, etc. can be recycled. (Some fees apply.)

That will be followed by the final two “Dumpster Days” of the year, sponsored by the Health Department and by the county commissioners. Both Dumpster Days will be held at the HCHD, with one on Oct. 8-9 from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. and one on Oct. 29 from 5-8 p.m. (or until the Dumpster is full, on both occasions).

“The second event is an add-on, bonus event based on feedback we got from the community,” Warner said. “We had a lot of people who talked about the difficulty in getting to these events during the day, during work hours, so we have added an evening-only event.

“We’re trying to encourage people, if you've got trash in and around your house, now's time to get rid of it. Free Dumpsters, all you’ve got to do is get it to us, and then that way we're really trying to prevent trash ending up in the streams, in the fields or in someone's backyard, making the neighborhood look bad.”

Prohibited items include concrete, rocks or bricks; batteries, auto parts or tires; drums, liquids or chemicals; appliances or electronics; hazardous waste; and asbestos.

Next is the second annual Brake for Breakfast hosted by the Health Department, which includes free breakfast and breast health education while supplies last. The event is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 11 from 7-9 a.m. in the Health Department parking lot. COVID-19 and flu vaccines will also be available at the event.

Warner invited the community to come out for the event and “do a loop around the building and get a free breakfast and a bag full of material that has information on breast cancer screening.

“This event is all about increasing awareness of breast cancer and the opportunities that exist in Highland County and in this area to get breast cancer screening,” Warner said. “Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers that affect Highland County women, and what we see year over year, which is really frustrating, is that our overall rates of cancer in Highland County tend to be pretty consistent with the rest of the state, but the number of people who die from cancer in Highland County is much higher.

“The reason for that is because we're finding our cancers late in the game. We're not taking advantage of some of the screening opportunities that exist right here in Highland County to find problems early and fix them early.”

Warner also thanked area health care providers, including Highland District Hospital, Adena and HealthSource, for being “partners” for the event.

Also announced was a new grant opportunity through the HCHD for local businesses and organizations to apply for a water bottle refilling station for their existing water fountains.

According to a press release from Brittane Dance of the HCHD, “Through the grant, the Health Department was able to secure 50 water bottle refilling stations with the goal of reducing disease transmission through touchless filling stations, minimizing single-use plastic bottles and promoting water consumption.

“To be eligible for this opportunity, applicants must: be located within the Health District (all areas of Highland County); be a governmental agency, nonprofit, for-profit or other organization; and agree to all items required within the application and submit a fully completed application with any supporting documentation. Additionally, those awarded a water bottle refilling station will be responsible for installing and maintaining the station.”

The application period is open now, and review begins Oct. 31.

“This is something that we were able to get a grant from the Ohio Department of Health to support,” Warner told commissioners. “Anybody in the county who has a water fountain already can apply to the health department to receive a free upgrade, and that water fountain can be fitted with a water bottle filling station.

“There's no cost as far as getting the equipment. There is some cost for getting a plumber, so they're responsible for paying their own commercial plumbing fee, whatever that would cost to install. But it's a good opportunity for our schools and our churches and our local businesses even to get that equipment and kind of upgrade their facilities, and it helps us on infection control and risk prevention, and also just encourages people to drink more water.”

Commissioners thanked Warner for the update.

In other discussion:

• Commissioners declared a state of emergency in Highland County due to the ongoing drought and are “requesting all available assistance from state and federal agencies.” For more, see: https://highlandcountypress.com/news/not-going-be-short-turnaround-high….

• Commissioners proclaimed October 2024 as Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Read more at: https://highlandcountypress.com/news/highland-county-commissioners-proc….

• Commissioners voted 3-0 to award a contract to Kiley Construction for Clay Township Park improvements in the amount of $199,283, then voted 3-0 to authorize the commission president to execute a change order to the contract.

According to commission clerk Ashleigh Willey, the change order removed $89,283 from the original contact, bringing the new project cost to $110,000.

As previously reported, the county received $250,000 for the demolition of the former Buford school, which has been completed, and subsequent renovations. In May, commissioners opened bids for Clay Township park improvements and playground equipment. Two physical bids were submitted, with Kiley Construction having the low bid.

Britton said Sept. 18 that the county “had to reduce some of the asks that we had in the plan” due to the bids coming in over budget. Some of the anticipated improvements include a ball diamond, new fencing and a new shelter for the park, Britton said.

• Highland County mobility manager Carl Rayburn announced that FRS Transportation is providing free rides for early voting at the Board of Elections and to polling stations on Election Day for the Nov. 5 general election.

Rides are available during all of the in-person early voting dates, which begin Oct. 8 and run through Nov. 2, except for Sundays. On the day of the election, FRS will also provide free transportation to vote in person.

“All they have to do is just call in and get it scheduled, and we can take you out to the Board of Elections during the time they're open for early voting, or the day of at your polling station,” Rayburn said.

For more information or to schedule a ride, Rayburn can be contacted at (937) 661-6955 or crayburn@ridefrst.org.

Rayburn also encouraged commissioners and the community to attend the Highland County Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC)’s quarterly regional public transit meeting, set for Tuesday, Oct. 15 at 3 p.m. at the FRS Transportation Administration Building, 313 Chillicothe Ave., Hillsboro.

“We're just going to talk about the goals, the status, number of trips, things like that, things that are going on that happened in the last quarter,” Rayburn said. “It is open to anybody who wants to come.”

• Commissioners approved an application for legal counsel from Common Pleas Court to hire Rich & Gillis Law Group LLC out of Dublin, Ohio “to represent us in the Ohio Board of Tax Appeals,” Daniels said.

“These become necessary when someone goes through the Board of Revision and decides that they want to take theirs on to the next level,” Daniels said. “We have a law firm in Columbus that will represent that will be there and represent the county on that. This is something that we've done numerous times before.”

• Daniels noted that the county is rebidding a notice for Leesburg crop land rental, after receiving no bids at their Sept. 18 meeting. The new bid opening is set for Oct. 9 at 9:15 a.m.

• Following their regular meeting, commissioners held a work session with records manager Julie Wallingford.

Commissioners also made the following approvals, each by a 3-0 vote:

• Commissioners authorized a request to appropriate $450 to Advances Out 2525. Commissioners also requested to repay an earlier advance from 2525 Block Grant PY22 to Advances In in the amount of $450 (Res. No. 24-22).

• Commissioners approved the Highland County RISE Program as authorized users to the Highland County Credit Card Policy in the amount of $1,000.

• Commissioners authorized Christopher M. Fauber, Highland County Engineer, to prepare and submit an application to participate in the Ohio Public Works Commission State Capital Improvement and/or Local Transportation Improvement Programs and to execute contracts as required.

Publisher's note: A free press is critical to having well-informed voters and citizens. While some news organizations opt for paid websites or costly paywalls, The Highland County Press has maintained a free newspaper and website for the last 25 years for our community. If you would like to contribute to this service, it would be greatly appreciated. Donations may be made to: The Highland County Press, P.O. Box 849, Hillsboro, Ohio 45133. Please include "for website" on the memo line.