State of county report given
Butler County's commissioners presented a report on the state of the county and future hopes to a group of around 90 business-minded people Wednesday morning.
Embodying the board's belief in having a unified voice, Butler County Commissioner Leslie Osche did most of the talking to a breakfast crowd of business owners and entrepreneurs assembled at Butler Country Club. The event was hosted by the Butler County Chamber of Commerce.
The other two commissioners — Kim Geyer and Kevin Boozel — spoke periodically to expand on certain ideas. Also in attendance was Mark Gordon, the former general manager of AK Steel's Butler Works, who was hired last year to the head the new economic development unit.
Butler County has its strengths, Osche and Gordon told the crowd — a valuable commercial corridor along Route 228 and rising housing values in tandem with an uptick in new building permits — but there's a lack of trained employees to fill new jobs, the addiction crisis continues and a multimillion dollar criminal justice system continues to weigh heavily on the county's budget.
Osche laid out the board's future goals in three general objectives. The first is “excellence in governance,” which addresses long-term capital improvement.
The second goal is “advancing economic development and transportation,” and focuses on expanding public transportation to and from Pittsburgh as well as business development.
The final goal aims at safety and quality of life issues in the county by addressing addiction and crime. Upgrades for Alameda and Diamond parks also are part of the strategy.
“Our folks have high marks in every department we have,” Osche said. “It's really amazing to see how well we perform.”
Osche began the event by noting that she and her colleagues didn't get a full night's rest because they were in Washington, D.C., discussing a possible $25 million grant to contribute to a state plan to widen a portion of the Route 228 corridor.
Earlier this summer, the state Transportation Commission approved its 12-year program, which included $168 million for improvements to the busy corridor. The projects along that stretch are included in a $63.9 billion overall plan.
The corridor is especially important to the economic vitality of the county, Gordon said and explained that the corridor generated $27 billion in goods shipped nation- and worldwide.
“What was really nice is how the commissioners worked as a team and it was obvious to me that (Gordon) was doing his job,” said Stan Kosciuszko, chamber president. “I'm extremely pleased. It's exactly what we wanted. I think we all needed a refresher course on what the commission actually does.”
In 2017, the county's net expense for the year was $49,004,208 with public safety, human services and general government operations accounting for the majority of that.
Public safety is the umbrella term used for the criminal justice apparatus including the county jail, probation services and police funding. Together, the criminal justice system accounts for a large part of the expenditure, with $100 being spent a day per person incarcerated, Osche said.
From 2007 to 2013, the cost of justice and public safety rose 15.5 percent, according to data presented by Osche.
Particularly challenging, Osche noted, is the number of individuals in Butler County Prison who suffer from mental health, addiction or some combination of the two.
After the breakfast, Osche pointed out diversionary methods are being used to relieve some of the burden and pain of incarcerating people who might benefit from alternatives to jail. Some of the methods include training police officers and identifying inmates who have mental disorders.
Osche also supports the county investing in early education to help reduce the number of individuals who otherwise might enter the criminal justice system.
It might take years before such reforms reduce the county's budget but in the meantime, the rise in housing units and new construction is already buoying the county's coffers through real estate taxes, Osche and Gordon said during the breakfast.
In 2010, Butler County had 78,259 residences. That number rose in 2017 to 83,224, a 6.08 percent increase in housing units, according to county figures. For this year, the county collected $48,416,373 in taxes. Overall, property tax makes up 91.9 percent of the county's budget.
“We have a lot to be proud of,” Gordon said. “We have a lot of work still remaining.”
