State taxes, state spending and state parks
As reported by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services website:
• 2014 WARN notices from Jan. 1, 2014-Aug. 14, 2014 totaled 6,612.
• 2013 WARN notices Jan. 1, 2013-Aug. 14, 2013 totaled 5,564; indicating 1,048 more layoffs in 2014 than in 2013.
The governor's office and various lawmakers are always Johnny-on-the-spot when it comes to sending news releases about new jobs. In fact, the state likes to take undeserved credit for job "creation." These are jobs that, if not directly created by the private sector, were – more often than not – financed by the taxpayers not the officeholders du jour.
This past weekend, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services reported that Ohio's unemployment rate increased to 5.7 percent in July 2014, up from 5.5 percent in June 2014.
Meanwhile, government employment – now at 753,000 – added 1,500 jobs over the period. With Republicans controlling so much of Ohio government these days, it's nice to see that the Buckeye State has a much smaller, much more efficient govern…. wait. That's not right.
State government spending is increasing and has been throughout the Kasich tenure.
While Kasich may have been – at one time – vulnerable in November 2014, he no longer is. His re-election is as safe a bet as that his next budget will be bigger than his last.
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In another report of interest, this week Policy Matters Ohio said that "Major changes in Ohio's tax system over the past nine years have slashed average annual tax bills for the state's most affluent 1 percent of taxpayers by more than $20,000, while the bottom three-fifths of state taxpayers as a group are seeing an overall increase.
" The report, based on an analysis by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy in Washington, D.C., examined major tax changes in Ohio since 2005, and how they affected Ohioans last year compared to what tax filers would have paid had the pre-2005 tax system remained in place.[[In-content Ad]]
"In effect, lower-income Ohioans are helping to pay for tax cuts for others who earn much more," said Zach Schiller, Policy Matters Ohio research director and the report's author.
"The $20,000 average annual tax cut for Ohioans in the top 1 percent is greater than the income of those in the bottom fifth."
The report found that all of the biggest tax changes since 2005, when a major overhaul was approved, have further slanted the state and local tax system in favor of the affluent.
Read the report at www.policymattersohio.org and draw your own conclusions.
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Given the state's penchant for spending money, I try to do my part. This year I purchased three Ohio fishing licenses (and even used one of them this spring when the Republican Party left me after a 35-year relationship and I became a registered Libertarian.) In addition to buying three angler IDs, I also spent some hard-earned cash with the state this past weekend at Hocking Hills State Park, roughly halfway between Laurelville and Logan in Hocking County.
The sad part was that this was my first visit to Hocking Hills, Old Man's Cave (named after another RR), Ash Cave and Cedar Falls.
Having lived in or within 15 miles of Hillsboro since the mid-1960s, I somehow had the misconception that Hocking Hills was closer to Athens or Marietta than to Chillicothe.
I should have known better. Especially since I've been reading maps since I was 5 or 6 years old. (More on that in a moment.)
Pam, Colin and I left Highland County early Friday, stopped by our friends at JR's General Store in Pike County, had lunch in Chillicothe, and checked into a two-bedroom cabin at Hocking Hills State Park before 2 p.m.
Not knowing the area past Kinnikinnick (think Zane Trace) in Ross County, I stopped at a (the) convenience store there for some last-minute supplies.
We drove on for several miles, admiring countryside very similar to southeast Highland County or parts of Adams County. Just when we thought Kinnikinnick would be the last community we'd pass through, we came to Laurelville, near the convergence of Ross, Pickaway and Hocking counties.
Compared to Kinnikinnick, Laurelville was big-time. We bought gasoline and went to the grocery store. We made a mental note to try the Ridge Inn Restaurant on Pike Street (http://www.theridgeinnrestaurant.com).
From Laurelville, it was only a few more minutes down Route 180 and Route 374 to the park lodge, office, cottages and campgrounds. (You can also take Route 56 from Laurelville to Route 664. As one of the area horsemen told me: "Everything's on a loop here.")
Except the hike from Ash Cave to Cedar Falls. That's about as due north as one can travel in all of Hocking County. I should know. The Ash Cave to Cedar Falls hike is along the famous Buckeye Trail.
From the main entrance to Ash Cave is maybe a half-mile walk. Continuing northward to Cedar Falls is a hike.
Once reaching Cedar Falls and returning to the parking area entrance to Ash Cave is an even bigger hike. The Ash Cave parking area is on Route 56. Our van was there. We were north of County Road 272. As a former surveyor for 20 years and as someone who lives in the woods, let the record state that yours truly was not lost.
On Saturday, AFTER walking 6-8 miles around Old Man's Cave, the three of us also walked from Ash Cave to Cedar Falls and halfway back. That was not the plan. I was already tired upon arrival to Ash Cave.
Of course, we would have walked all the way back to our van except for a Good Samaritan family in a silver pickup truck with a young female and very friendly husky pup riding in the truck bed.
This family passed us on the downhill side of Route 374, on a road not intended for pedestrian traffic. At Fairview Road, the brake lights came on and this full-sized, dual cab pickup began backing up this narrow hillside highway.
Surely, they are not taking pity on us, are they? Yup. They're taking pity on us.
Maybe it was a mirage. Lord, have mercy.
But then, a seemingly nice young lady jumped out of the front passenger seat and asked if we'd like a ride. Indeed, we would.
The trees were angry that day, my friends. It was hot, too. We had no bottled water. No Pepsi. No Coke. No Keystone Light. No beverages or drinks. No food. And certainly no shame.
We walked an estimated 8-9 miles through Hocking Hills Saturday.
The last two miles in the back of that pickup, downhill all the way, were greatly appreciated. As soon as we returned to the cabin, I realized that I didn't get the family's name or license plate number.
Suffice it to say there are still Good Samaritans among us. And that makes me happy.
To all those state workers at Hocking Hills State Park, I can only add that this longtime Ohio taxpayer can see the benefits of your work. Thank you.
We'll be back next year.
Rory Ryan is publisher and owner of The Highland County Press.