Remember that quote from Jerry McGuire? You know, “Show me the money!!!” The same could be said when it comes to the Marion County Commissioners. Show me the money!!! As you can see from the attached chart that gives a breakdown of the county’s General Fund revenues between 2009 and 2024–which comes directly from the […]
Written by Swamp.Fox
Whoever wins the May 5th Republican primary for Marion County Commissioner will receive a handsome salary of $81,150 in 2027, $85,208 in 2028, and $89,468 in 2029–plus generous benefits! According to the Federal Reserve, the median household income in Marion County in 2024 was $63,276. I don’t know about you, but I think this commissioner […]
Written by Swamp.Fox
Daily adult admission for the Lincoln Park Aquatics Center in the city of Marion will increase from its current rate of $7.00 to $9.00, while annual memberships (without the early-bird discount) for a family of up to six will jump from $275.00 to $315.00. As you can see from the attached chart, daily admission and […]
Written by Swamp.Fox
Just how much money is involved in a Marion County Commissioner primary? Well, here’s the campaign finance figures from the last Republican commissioner primary race, which was held back on 03/19/2024. I’d show the numbers for the Dems, but they didn’t run a candidate that year (or this year). The top three contributors for each […]
Written by Swamp.Fox
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 […]
Written by Swamp.Fox
Back in March 2024, there were two seats open on the Marion County Board of Commissioners. longtime Republican incumbent Andy Appelfeller was challenged by Tim Mooney, while incumbent Kerr Murray was challenged by Kevin Davidson and Jason Schaber. As you can see from the results, Appelfeller retained his seat on the board, defeating Mooney by […]
Written by Swamp.Fox
Three days ago, the ole Swamp Fox drafted up ten questions to be posed to the four Republican primary candidates for Marion County Commissioner: Jason Schaber, Tim Mooney, Christy Neff and Ken Stiverson. Mr. Schaber is the first and only candidate to respond, so far. These folks are facing off in the Republican primary, which […]
Written by Swamp.Fox
During last night’s Marion City Council committee meetings, the guest speaker was a representative of Flock Safety, the company that supplies the city and county’s 34 license plate surveillance cameras that have been in place since 2023. The contract with Flock will be expiring this year and with both the city and county facing substantial […]
Written by Swamp.Fox
By special request from a few loyal followers, the Swamp Fox started digging into the financials of Marion City Schools. Man… why is it that EVERY SINGLE GOVERNMENT ENTITY is being fiscally irresponsible and spending beyond it means!? The Swamp Fox is wearing himself out, folks. He can’t keep this up. There’s way too much […]
Written by Swamp.Fox
Remember the good old days when schools were filled with a bunch of students, a good number of teachers, and a few administrators? Nowadays, it seems most schools are filled with fewer students, about the same number of teachers, and an exorbitant number of administrators. Education in 21st century America is less about teaching and […]
Written by Swamp.Fox
The Swamp Fox’s pointy little fur covered ears were burning tonight, as he heard his name brought up during budget discussions at the regular session of Marion City Council. A courageous citizen addressed council and asked why the city’s proposed expense budget for 2026 actually increases expenditures over 2025 instead of cutting them by the […]
Written by Swamp.Fox
The Swamp Fox wants to apologize for using such similar headlines for these budget articles, but it’s literally the same story over and over again with each city department it seems. Or at least with the costly ones who are represented by powerful unions (FOP/OLC, IAFF, AFSCME, and USW). The whole goal of this fiscal […]
Written by Swamp.Fox
The ole Swamp Fox has been digging deep into the budgets for each of the city of Marion’s departments, so don’t think that he’s picking on the police or doesn’t “Back the Blue.” Underneath that furry coat of red and white, he’s got a blue stripe tattoo to show his support for those who protect […]
Written by Swamp.Fox
Here’s a breakdown of actual expenses for Marion Area Transit (MAT) between 2023 and 2025, alongside the projected expenses for the first 2026 budget that was proposed on 11/17/2025 and the most recent revised 2026 budget (version #4 if you’re keeping track) that is up for consideration by council. As you can see, despite the […]
Written by Swamp.Fox
Following the recent resignation of the city’s Director of Public Service, Mike Bodine, and in an effort to save money and increase efficiency during this period of fiscal distress, the city’s Director of Public Safety, Rob Cowell, has been suggested for the appointment of the newly reconsolidated position of Director of Public Safety & Service. […]
Written by Swamp.Fox
Allow me to preface this headline by pointing out that the actual budget expense figures for 2025 come from the most recent budget worksheet that has been published on the city’s website. I assume that those figures have been finalized but given the city’s situation with reconciliation and overall accounting, it may not be safe […]
Written by Swamp.Fox
At this point, the city of Marion has proposed three budgets for 2026–with another one being proposed in Finance Committee at tonight’s meeting. There has been a lot of talk about cuts and fee increases, given the city’s present status of fiscal distress, but has the budget really been reduced compared to 2025 as has […]
Written by Swamp.Fox
The ole Swamp Fox has heard some folks complaining about the staffing and budget increases of the Marion Police Department in recent years, so he decided to pull some figures to see if there’s any merit to the complaints. As you can see from the attached image, staffing levels in the MPD jumped from 55 […]
Written by Swamp.Fox
There’s been some folks who have been commenting about the pay of city workers, so the Ole Swamp Fox decided to do some digging into the salary and benefits data of the city of Marion over the past few years. According to the Federal Reserve, the national average increase in employment cost (salaries & benefits) […]
Written by Swamp.Fox
At this point The Swamp Fox may as well change his name to The Sanitation Fox. He’s been digging into the garbage, big time. Although he couldn’t track down the revenues received by Marion’s Sanitation Department for each year between 2017 and 2025, he was able to locate the expenditures for those years–as well as […]
Written by marionwatch-investigates
Following our recent coverage of proposed budget cuts at Marionwatch.com, Mayor Bill Collins has issued a formal address to the community. In a “Fiction vs. Fact” breakdown, the Mayor is attempting to clear the air regarding the city’s $8.8 million deficit and the state-mandated recovery plan currently in motion. If you’ve been following the news […]
Written by Swamp.Fox
Finding itself in fiscal distress, the city of Marion is faced with some difficult choices, being pressured by the Ohio Auditor of State to either fix the financial mess on their own or else the state of Ohio will take over management of the city. Among the city’s fiscal challenges is an $8.9 million dollar […]
Written by marionwatch-investigates
The proposed hikes to Marion’s utility rates and bus fares are not simply a response to inflation—they are the direct, painful consequence of the systemic financial mismanagement and IT governance failures that Marionwatch.com Investigates has been documenting for the past year and began reporting on in 2019, with our initial suspicions beginning to prove true […]
Written by Swamp.Fox
With the city of Marion currently considering the elimination of the 100% income tax credit provided to city residents who work elsewhere and pay income taxes to another municipality, now is a good time to share the story of how Marion came to have an income tax. Prior to the 1st of June 1959, if […]
Written by Swamp.Fox
The Swamp Fox has already posted about this topic–many weeks ago–so it isn’t exactly breaking news at this point–but it’s just now getting the attention of Marion residents, so here he goes once again. Let’s start with an example, using a hypothetical Marion man named John. John lives in Marion but works in Crestline. Both […]