staying tuned...

An update on the Ohio State FY '16-'17, in regards to public libraries, according to OLC's Access Weekly:

"Analysis Underway on Proposed FY16-17 State Budget and Potential Impact on PLF

The OLC staff and consultants have begun the tedious process of analyzing the 719-pages of Gov. Kasich's proposed $72.3 billion state budget for fiscal years (FY) 2016-17, and the potential impact the proposals may have on the Public Library Fund (PLF). The budget proposal includes a combination of tax cuts and tax increases. Overall, the administration claims it amounts to $500 million net tax cut, even though it includes increases in sales, commercial activity, tobacco, and severance taxes. Some of the high points of the proposal include:

  • Cuts the income tax by 23% across-the-board (15% income tax cut this year and 8% cut next year);
  • Raises the Commercial Activity Tax (CAT) on gross receipts from .26% to .32%;
  • Increases the Cigarette Tax from $1.25 to $2.25 per pack;
  • Proposes a 6.5% Severance Tax on high volume oil and gas horizontal wells;
  • Increases the state sales tax from 5.75% to 6.25%;
  • And expands the sales tax base to include the following services: cable TV, parking, lobbying, public relations, consulting, and travel packages.

A summary of the Governor's tax proposal as well as the entire state budget document are available online.

Public Library Fund  

According to Office of Budget and Management (OBM) budget documents, the Governor's proposed budget does not change the Public Library Fund (PLF) percentage from 1.66% of the total General Revenue Fund (GRF) tax receipts. However, due to the various tax reform proposals and state revenue estimates, if the Governor's budget is enacted as proposed, the distribution to the PLF would increase by 5.7% in FY16 and 3.9% in FY17. (See

chart for details and comparison to past and current distributions.)  
A few points to keep in mind:

  • Even though public libraries budget on a calendar year basis, the General Assembly and the state operate on a fiscal year basis. Therefore, budget documents are produced for the legislature based on fiscal years and not calendar years.
  • This is the very beginning of the budget deliberation process. The final FY16-17 budget will not be enacted until the end of June and numerous changes will be made between now and then.
  • Various organizations have already raised concerns with the Governor's tax proposal on severance tax increases, the CAT tax increases, and cigarette tax changes.
It is extremely important to continue to look at the big picture throughout the state budget process - both on the revenue side and on the proposed tax cuts. More information will be provided as soon as it is available.

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