ST. CLAIRSVILLE — The Belmont Board of Commissioners urged residents to support renewing the State Capital Improvement Program when they next head to the ballot boxes.

Commissioners on Wednesday adopted a resolution in support of Ohio Issue 2, the renewal of the State Capital Improvement Program, that will be on the May 6 statewide ballot.

“Bond renewal is not a new tax on residents of the state of Ohio, but it does go to a very good use,” Dutton said. “That use is the Ohio Public Works Commission, and Belmont County has been a big beneficiary of funding through that program.

“Covering the last 10 years, Belmont County has received approximately $20 million in grant funds,” he continued. “So, on average, about $2 million a year has come to Belmont County for a variety of projects. Sometimes, those come through the annual program that is the Public Works Commission, in terms of applications collected here in Belmont County.”

Dutton said that those funds sometimes come directly to townships in emergency situations and those townships have a process to go through the program and apply for funds before being awarded funds directly for that.

Dutton then asked Belmont County Township Association President Frank Shaffer if he would be able to elaborate on Dutton’s remarks.

“There’s been a number of projects that start out with this as the only source of funding that the townships can go after. If this goes by the wayside, that means all the money comes out of our taxpaying dollars when we go into a project. So just keep that all in mind,” Shaffer said. “The county commissioners here have supplied me with several projects for the community, and I will tell you now this, this is something that’s badly needed. This creates good-paying jobs in Belmont County.”

He added that he’s seen Belmont County residents voicing their opinions against Issue 2 but said that he believes it’s because they think that it is a tax increase, which it is not.

Dutton added that he understands why residents would not want to pay for another tax increase because of the recent property taxes increase but stressed that Issue 2 is not a tax increase.

“This is not a new tax, but it is a renewal process for the state to go through in terms of the bond,” he said. “We talk about this at least once a year when we talk about projects that were awarded in Belmont County, and I think that we do a tremendous job in Belmont County, meaning the townships, the villages, and the county, all kind of working together in terms of projects that we submit. We try to do what’s best for the county as a whole.”

He added that his main goal is to bring the most amount of money back to Belmont County as possible and believes that the county has been successful in doing that by continuous collaboration from all entities.

“It’s just a process the state has to go through to ask the voters, can we borrow this money? Sell the bonds, borrow this money, and it’s paid back through the state general fund. It’s not going to raise your taxes,” Belmont County Port Authority Executive Director Larry Merry said. “Basically, what they’re doing is, if you’re wanting to buy a new car, you get it financed, you got to have your wife or husband sign off on it. And Ohio’s asking its wife or the husband, that we want to do this, and you need the permission, permission and the signature, and the vote is the signature allowing the state to do it.”