Pre-meeting release for 4/7 session

Seneca County commissioners to hold a digital meeting, discuss budgets

[Tiffin, OH April 5, 2020] – The Seneca County Board of Commissioners is to meet at noon Tuesday for an online board session.
The commissioners are encouraging residents to join them in the online meeting through the application Zoom, in light of the state’s Stay at Home Order that went into effect last month.
To maintain maximum accessibility, the meeting will be recorded, archived and streamed live through Zoom. Residents can join the meeting by computer or mobile device at the following link: https://zoom.us/j/811962337.
Residents also can download the Zoom meeting app and join with meeting ID 811 962 337.
For those who would rather call in and listen to the audio of the meeting while it’s occurring, they can dial (646) 558-8656 and use the meeting ID.
The meeting is to follow a 9 a.m. meeting with the Seneca County Budget Commission. The commissioners said during last week’s meeting that they hoped the budget commission meeting could help provide more information on how the COVID-19 crisis will affect the county’s 2020 budget. Although information is limited on the effects of the crisis, the group will attempt to revise the certified revenue figure for 2020, thus giving the commissioners and other departments a more concrete figure to aim for in budget reductions. Last year, the budget commission certified $17.5 million in revenue for the General Fund.
During last week’s meeting, the commissioners stressed the need to be proactive with budgetary changes, as the county and other governmental entities across the world are dealing with the fiscal consequences of COVID-19.
According to the US Department of Labor, 6.6 million US workers filed for their first week of unemployment benefits in the week ending March 28, which marks a record-high for the country. The previous record, which was set in the week ending March 21, was about 3.3 million workers.
According to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, the state saw 272,117 jobless claims for the week ending March 28. The previous week saw about 196,297 claims in the state, making nearly 470,000 over the past two weeks.
To put this in perspective, 364,603 initial unemployment claims were filed during the entire year in 2019.
Residents also may join the budget commission via phone call by dialing (646) 558-8656 and using the meeting code 183 528 156. The meeting is slated to begin at 9 a.m.
In other action during the commissioners’ meeting, the board plans to consider a resolution that would reduce the number of hours needed to be worked to qualify for health care benefits. This would give the county more flexibility to react to the economic ramifications of this health crisis.