MEDINA – Medina County would have to deal with $240,000 in less revenue in 2018 under Ohio Gov. John Kasich’s formula to help counties deal with the loss of sales taxes from Medicaid managed care.

The revenue loss would be felt equally by Medina County government and public schools in the county, which both collect about $13 million a year from separate 0.5 percent sales taxes.

County Administrator Scott Miller said the hit to the budget gets bigger in 2019 when the loss to the county and schools would rise to nearly $500,000 each because Medina County is one of just eight counties in Ohio not scheduled for a reimbursement of lost revenue that year.

The federal government told Ohio last year that it could no longer charge a sales tax on Medicaid managed care services in order to draw down more federal matching dollars.

The change will cost counties and local transit authorities about $200 million per year. It also costs the state about $1.1 billion over two years, and Kasich has proposed a new assessment on Medicaid managed care and private health insurers to cover the state’s losses.

But the Toledo Blade reports the fee won’t benefit counties or the handful of public transit authorities that levy sales taxes, and Kasich has not proposed a permanent replacement for the lost local revenue. Instead, he has proposed gradually weaning counties and transit authorities off this revenue source.

The two-year budget he unveiled recently would provide $49 million statewide in temporary replacement funds for the fourth quarter of calendar year 2017 and $158 million for the full year of 2018 toward an estimated $200 million annual loss.

The distribution formula considers counties’ dependence on this revenue and whether they have already taken full advantage of their ability to levy local sales taxes. As a result, some counties will receive a bigger reimbursement than others and Medina County will receive about $240,000 less next year and nothing in 2019 or thereafter.

The Kasich sales tax fix was not received warmly by county commissioners who noted the county has already seen its share of local government funds from the state drop from $3.4 million to $1.2 a year in the past decade.

Pat Geissman suggested county officials take a closer look at the sales tax rate they control in order to raise revenue. Commissioners have discussed raising the county sales tax by .025 percent but so far haven’t put that issue on the ballot.

Geissman also suggested the 0.5 percent tax collected for schools could be modified.

“We should be thinking about that half-percent the schools collect,” she said. “It can only be used for capital improvements and I think its collecting more money than the schools need.”

Geissman suggested the revenue would be better spent if split between the county and the schools.