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Media Scope
"WYTV Breaks the MoldThe rap on local TV news -- here, there and just about everywhere -- is it's shallow, derivative, unable and unwilling to delve into complex issues.So much for generalities.WYTV Channel 33's new periodic series, "Government in Crisis," is worthy of high praise -- not only for breaking the November ratings mold (deadly salad bar exposes) but also for reducing into simple sentences the labyrinth of Mahoning County's archaic system of tax financing.The series is drawing accolades from the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber, which e-mailed members an advisory urging them to watch. "It makes people think," says Thomas Humphries, chamber president. "They're telling people what they don't know and need to know.""Government in Crisis," reported by anchor Vince Bevacqua, began last month by underscoring how the defeat Nov. 2 of the county's half-percent sales tax would result in a $13 million deficit next year in the general fund, and a $70 million deficit by 2008. But the general fund amounts to $57 million, or just 18%, of the county's 2004 budget of $308 million, the series continued. What's more, 98 other county funds -- revenues that come from tax levies to support specific needs -- had a combined surplus of $86 million at the end of 2003, money that cannot be shifted to pay for general-fund expenditures such as staffing the sheriff's office and the courts."The more we looked into it, the more we saw Mahoning County's system of government is broken. It's been patched, probably with good intentions, but some of these things go back decades -- the laws that overlap, that literally paralyze government officials from doing anything even if they wanted to," says Dave Trabert, WYTV general manager.Trabert, an accountant by training, is the guiding force behind the series. Using Excel spreadsheets, he assimilated reams of data obtained by reporters from county offices and boards, then made line-item comparisons. Over the last three years, the general fund budget has increased 6.9%, WYTV found, while the combined budgets of the 98 other funds grew 41.8%. Administrative salaries in the general fund declined 5% during the three-year period but increased 11.2% in the other funds. The pattern was repeated across line items, according to WYTV's analysis. For instance, health care costs increased 36% in the general fund, and retirement costs 12% -- while health care costs were up 279% in the other funds and retirement costs up 28%.Many of the special funds are governed by appointed boards, such as the Children Services Board, where spending is up 48.5% over three years, and the Board of Mental Retardation & Developmental Disabilities, where spending is up 47%, WYTV found. "There's a dramatic difference between what goes on in the general fund, which is controlled by elected officials, and other funds that are not under the control of elected officials," Trabert observes.After detailing budget and spending inconsistencies in the first six parts of its series, WYTV devoted its seventh segment to asking tough questions that officials have yet to answer:Given the $86 million surplus, why don't the funds' administrators "ask commissioners to reduce the millage on their upcoming levies? Has this ever been done in Mahoning County history? The state Legislature can make law to allow flexibility in using that surplus special fund money for emergencies. Has anyone at the county level pushed for that change in the law?"Subsequent segments showed politicians pontificating about the benefits of consolidating services, and changing the system of government similar to the structure Summit County adopted a decade ago. Noticeably absent, however, were any pledges to actually follow up and begin the politically dangerous process."WYTV is "committed to following this as long as we need to," Trabert says. "It's not a fad -- the event of the [ratings] sweeps or the year. We're in this for the long haul.""