Written by Although it hasn’t come up yet, if history is a guide, depending on who wins the upcoming Republican primary for Marion County Commissioner on May 5th and becomes your next member of the three-person board, taxpayers may soon find themselves paying more in taxes to continue funding excessive spending by county government.
Current Marion County Commissioners Andy Appelfeller, Mark Davis and Kevin Davidson recently passed a 2026 budget that features a projected deficit of $4.5 million. Appelfeller and Davis voted in favor of it, while Davidson was opposed.
Davis’s seat on the board of commissioners happens to be the one that is up for grabs this election, as he has decided, after serving one four-year term, not to seek reelection. With Appelfeller having a history of both approving deficit budgets and supporting tax increases, and assuming that Davidson continues to oppose them, whoever replaces Davis may end up being the deciding factor in what course the county pursues in 2027 and beyond.
Will that course be one of fiscally conservative policy and include necessary cuts to spending? Or will the course be one that preserves excessive spending by taking the lazy, irresponsible and counterproductive path of increasing taxes?
Looking back a number of years, Marion County was facing similar financial doldrums following the Great Recession that commenced in 2008. The board of commissioners, consisting then of Josh Daniels (D), Dan Russell (D), and Andy Appelfeller (R), made serious budget cuts in 2009 and 2010, which included pay raise freezes and layoffs of county workers.
At the time, Marion County boasted a gross sales tax rate of 6.5%, with 1% of that going to the county’s coffers. At the beginning of 2010, there was a projected budget deficit of $1.6 million; however, due to cuts to spending, the county ended the year with a small surplus.
In November 2010, Republican challenger for commissioner, Ken Stiverson–who happens to be running again this year–defeated Josh Daniels, which set the stage for the sales tax hike in 2011.
As he prepared to leave office in December 2010, Daniels reiterated his opposition to a sales tax increase. “My position has been to never increase the sales tax, always act within the budget we have. Whatever budget or the economy that we have, county finances can be budgeted without increasing taxes” he said.
Sure enough, almost as soon as the board of commissioner’s composition changed in 2011, it voted to increase the county sales tax rate by 0.5%. It did so by resolution and did not allow Marion County voters the opportunity to make a decision on the increase at the ballot box.
Due to the undemocratic way in which the commissioners increased the sales tax rate, a group of citizens collected over 2,000 signatures in order to place a repeal of the increase on the ballot. That repeal effort was successful with 12,918 voting to do away with the increase and only 6,821 voting to keep it.
Seemingly undeterred by the rejection demonstrated by the voters, Commissioner Stiverson and the board sought an increase of 0.25% the following year. Instead of just enacting it by decree, like they did in 2011, in 2012 they placed it on the ballot and allow the voters to decide.
The result of that election was much closer. It ultimately failed, but only by a score of 13,442 against and 13,200 in favor.
In September 2013, the state of Ohio increased its portion of the sales tax from 5.5% to 5.75%, resulting in an overall rate increase in Marion County from 6.5% to 6.75%.
Later that year, in December 2013, Marion County Commissioners Ken Stiverson (R), Andy Appelfeller (R) and Dan Russell (D) once again voted to increase the county’s sales tax by 0.50%–without placing it on the ballot. As a result, the sales tax rate in Marion County jumped from 6.75% to 7.25%.
Despite the situation being quite similar to the undemocratic way in which the commissioners increased the sales tax in 2011, no repeal effort was launched by Marion’s citizens.
Marion County’s sales tax rate is currently at 7.25%, with 1.50% of that going to the county. According to state law, its current rate is maxed out for general fund purposes; however, there are other potential avenues for commissioners to increase county tax rates and revenues that would permit them to maintain the status quo of overspending.
Will that be done? Who knows.
But if the past is truly prologue, as Bill Shakespeare once said, you can bet your bottom tax dollar that they’ll try.