Athens County, Ohio July 26, 2021 POPULAR ANNUAL FINANCIAL REPORT

COUNTY AUDITOR’S OFFICE RESPONSIBILITIES General Accounting/Fiscal Officer Real Estate Appraisal & Assessment The Athens County Auditor is the watchdog of County funds. As the County’s chief financial officer, it is the Auditor’s responsibility to: Athens County has over 46,000 separate parcels of property. The auditor maintains property records, transfers and it is the job of the Auditor’s office to ensure that every parcel of land and the buildings on it are fairly and uniformly assessed for tax purposes. Account for over 76.0 million received by the County each year. Issue payments for all County obligations— including the distribution of tax dollars to the townships, villages, cities, school districts, libraries and other County agencies. Administer and distribute tax and license revenues including real estate taxes, personal property taxes, motor vehicle license fees, gasoline taxes, estate taxes, manufactured home taxes, and local government funds. Administer the County payroll. Produce the County’s annual financial report as required by law. A general appraisal is conducted every six years and is updated every three years. The office maintains a detailed record of the appraisal of each parcel in the County. The records are open to the public. For taxation purposes, property owners are assessed at 35% of fair market value. A revaluation was completed for tax year 2020. In the third year after the revaluation, the Auditor must update the assessed value for each parcel of property by studying real estate sales for the preceding three years. This last triennial update was done for tax year 2017, calendar year 2018. Licensing Mobile Home Assessment Licenses for dog tags, kennels, vendors, and cigarettes are all issued by the Auditor’s office. Athens County annually issues more than 9,500 dog & kennel licenses. Vendor licenses authorize businesses to sell tangible property to the public and collect sales tax, a part of which is returned for use on the local level. The Auditor’s office is also charged with assessing taxes on manufactured housing (mobile homes). Under Ohio law, mobile home owners must register their homes with the Auditor’s office for tax purposes. The Auditor assesses each manufactured home annually and prepares a tax list. The manufactured home tax is distributed back to the local taxing districts (municipalities, townships and schools) in the same manner as real estate taxes. Real Estate Taxes & Rates The County Auditor cannot raise or lower property taxes. Tax rates are determined by the budgetary requests of each government unit, as authorized by the vote of the people. Rates are computed in strict accordance with procedures required by the Ohio Department of Taxation, Division of Tax Equalization. Weights & Measures The Athens County Auditor’s office helps protect County residents and businesses by ensuring that all commercial weighing and measuring devices are accurate. Gas pumps, price scanners, meat and produce scales are checked regularly. Each year the Auditor’s office inspects more than 900 devices at over 200 locations throughout the county. Each year, the Auditor prepares the General Tax List. Your tax bill is based on the tax rate multiplied by your valuation on this tax list. This is your proportional share of the cost including schools, townships, villages, and the County. Mapping & GIS The Athens County Auditor was appointed the GIS Coordinator for Athens County and maintains parcel data available to the public online at http://gis.athensoh.org/parcelviewer. Additional layers are being added as a collaborative measure with other offices, departments and agencies. Under Ohio law, the amount of taxation without a vote of the people is limited to 10 mills ( 10 per 1,000) of assessed valuation. County residents must vote any additional real estate taxes, for any purpose. Your “tax rate” is the total of all levy and bond issues. Data Processing Board The Auditor’s Office is active in the processes of the County Data Processing Board. The Board hopes to adopt policy to aid in the efficiency of use for county computer systems. 5

Governmental funds are those through which most governmental functions typically are financed. Governmental fund reporting focuses on the sources, uses and balances of current financial resources. Dollars In The revenues presented here have been reported in the general, special revenue, debt service and capital projects funds. The modified accrual basis of accounting is used, which means that revenues are recognized when they become measurable and available to pay current period liabilities. The table summarizes revenues by source, and shows increases (decreases) in relation to prior year amounts. Governmental Fund Type Revenues Year Ended Decemeber 31, 2020 Other Revenue 6.38% Fines and Forfeitures 0.29% Interest 0.78% Licenses and Permits 0.26% Charges for Services 9.29% Intergovernmental 47.56% Sales Tax 11.56 Property Taxes 23.88% Source: Athens County Auditor 2019 ACTUAL 2020 ACTUAL CHANGE FROM 2019 Intergovernmental 31,201,317 Property Taxes 16,443,063 Sales Tax 7,865,640 Charges for Services 5,442,199 Other Revenues 5,738,430 Interest 733,120 Fines and Forfeitures 224,257 Licenses and Permits 163,621 36,420,298 17,026,416 8,350,604 5,474,617 3,552,421 885,254 214,811 181,350 35,221,086 17,683,363 8,563,915 6,883,455 4,721,711 578,823 213,269 193,692 (1,199,212) 656,947 213,311 1,408,838 1,169,290 (306,431) (1,542) 12,342 67,811,647 72,105,771 74,059,314 REVENUES 2018 ACTUAL 1,953,543 % CHANGE FROM 2019 ‐3.84% 4.00% 2.71% 25.89% 20.38% ‐41.80% ‐0.69% 7.54% 2.88% Source: Athens County Auditor Intergovernmental revenues are monies received for the State of Ohio and the federal government which include Local Government, Homestead & Rollbacks, Gasoline Excise Tax, Motor Vehicle License fees and grants. Property Taxes include real estate, personal property, manufactured home and estate taxes. Athens County receives a 1% sales tax for the County general fund and 0.25% sales tax for 911 Emergency Communication. Charges for Services are fees charged by the various County offices. Other Revenues are miscellaneous income that is not included in another category. Interest is earned on the County’s investments and deposits. Fines and Forfeitures are imposed by the courts or by the Ohio Revised Code. Licenses and Permits include Dog, Marriage, Vendor and Cigarette licenses sold by the County. The major factors in the change of revenues were significant increases in Intergovernmental Revenue with an increase of 1,408,838 or 25.89% due primarily to an increase in charges for ambulance services, Other Revenues of 1,169,290 or 20.38% due to refunds received from the Ohio Bureau of Worker’s Compensation and Property Tax revenues of 656,947 or 4.00% due to an increase in delinquent taxes received by the County. Intergovernmental revenues decreased 1,199,212 or 3.84% which is the result of a decrease in receivables from the prior year. Sales Tax revenues increased of 213,311 or 2.71% due to an increase in purchasing activity within the County. Interest received went down 306,431 or 41.80%, while License and Permits increased 12,342 or 7.54%. In addition, there was a decrease in Fines and Forfeitures of 1,542 or 0.69%. These resulted in an overall increase of 1,953,342 or 2.88%. 6

Dollars Out The expenditures shown are those of the general, special revenue, debt service and capital projects funds. Under the modified accrual basis of accounting, expenditures are recorded when the liability is incurred. The pie chart depicts expenditures by function as a percentage of the total expenditures for the year ended December 31, 2020. The table shows expenditures by function, and increases (decreases) in relation to the prior year amounts. Governmental Fund Type Expenditures Year Ended December 31, 2020 Debt Service 1.30% Health 16.32% Judicial 4.41% Economic Development 0.21% Capital Outlay 1.42% Conservation and Recreation 0.00% Human Services 45.15% Public Safety 8.92% Legislative and Executive 10.41% Public Works 11.86% Source: Athens County Auditor 2018 ACTUAL EXPENDITURES Human Services Health Public Works Legislative and Executive Public Safety Judicial Capital Outlay Debt Service Economic Development and Assistance Conservation and Recreation 2019 ACTUAL 2020 ACTUAL CHANGE FROM 2019 % CHANGE FROM 2019 33,255,940 5,370,544 7,260,913 9,607,071 7,412,908 2,942,354 849,185 694,932 54,510 255,258 34,585,863 5,008,534 13,763,483 8,525,026 8,159,701 2,366,704 344,611 468,609 62,337 6,600 32,303,560 11,679,428 8,485,479 7,446,353 6,380,593 3,156,497 1,017,218 929,655 151,152 ‐ (2,282,303) 6,670,894 (5,278,004) (1,078,673) (1,779,108) 789,793 672,607 461,046 88,815 (6,600) ‐6.60% 133.19% ‐38.35% ‐12.65% ‐21.80% 33.37% 195.18% 98.39% 142.48% ‐100.00% 67,703,615 73,291,468 71,549,935 (1,741,533) ‐2.38% Human Services includes Job & Family Services, Children Services, ACBDD (Beacon School), Veterans Services, Child Support Enforcement, Senior Citizens and others. Legislative and Executive includes the Commissioners, Auditor, Treasurer, Prosecuting Attorney, Recorder, Data Processing, Building and Grounds, Real Estate Assessment and others. Public Safety includes the Sheriff, Coroner, 911 Emergency Communications, EMA and others. Public Works includes the Road (MVGT), Community Development Block Grants and others. Health includes Ambulance Service, TB Hospital, Dog & Kennel and others. Judicial includes the Court of Appeals, Common Pleas Court, Probate & Juvenile Courts, Municipal Court, Clerk of Courts and others. Capital Outlay is expenditures for equipment and buildings. Debt Service is payments of principal and interest on the County’s outstanding debt. Conservation and Recreation is payments made by the County Commissioners for Ferndale Park. Economic Development and Assistance is a revolving loan program for local businesses. Major decreases in Public Works, Human Services, Public Safety and Legislative and Executive are primarily related to decreases from the net pension and net OPEB liabilty calculations, which is offset by increases in Health due to an increase in CARES Act funding to be used for costs related to the COVID‐19 pandemic and in Capital Outlay, which is related to increased spending for building renovation. These changes resulted in an overall decrease of 1,741,533 or 2.38%. 7

General Fund The amounts in the chart below are the general fund unencumbered cash balances for the past ten years. That is the unexpended cash balances less any monies encumbered and set aside for outstanding expenses incurred in the reported year but not to be paid until the following year. 1,222 1,283 1,195 1,748 2,452 3,488 3,338 3,314 3,375 4,000 3,500 3,000 2,500 2,000 1,500 1,000 500 0 906 Thousands General Fund Unencumbered Cash Balances Last Ten Years 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 Source: Athens County Auditor The revenues and expenditures presented here have been reported for the general fund. The general fund is the primary operating fund of the County. The modified accrual basis of accounting is used, which means that revenues are recognized when they become measurable and available to pay current period liabilities and expenditures are recorded when the liability is incurred. This information comes from the County’s 2020 CAFR. General Fund Revenues Year Ended December 31, 2020 Fines and Forfeitures 0.38% Other Revenues 14.83% Licenses & Permits 0.02% Interest 3.11% Sales Tax 41.46% Intergovernmental 10.93% Charges for Services 15.99% Property Taxes 14.81% Source: Athens County Auditor 8

General Fund Expenditures Year Ended December 31, 2020 Health Debt Service 2.37% 2.00% Transfers‐Out 3.89% Human Services 3.83% Public Works 1.21% Legislative & Executive 43.27% Judicial 20.05% Public Safety 23.38% Source: Athens County Auditor General Fund Expenditures By Function and Department Year Ended December 31, 2020 Legislative & Executive Commissioners Auditor Treasurer Prosecuting Attorney External Audit Settlement Fees Data Processing Board of Elections Recorder Microfilm Records Center Commissioners Contracts Building and Grounds Insurances Unanticipated Total Legislative and Executive Public Safety Coroner Sheriff Commissioners Contracts Total Public Safety Human Services Veterans Services Total Human Services 844,610 536,635 310,096 1,506,950 79,648 69,664 164,288 886,401 317,438 55,625 11,086 178,348 934,401 282,405 48,913 6,226,508 550,688 550,688 Health 161,801 1,938,667 1,264,285 3,364,753 Vital Statistics Agriculture Other Health Commissioners Contracts Total Health 887 255,788 ‐ 31,659 288,334 Public Works Commissioners Contracts Total Public Works 173,526 173,526 Debt Service Principal Interest Total Debt Service 206,218 135,455 341,673 Transfers‐Out 559,510 Total General Fund Expenditures 14,389,909 Judicial Court of Appeals Common Pleas Court Juvenile Court Probate Court Clerk of Courts Municipal Court Commissioners Contracts Total Judicial 4,781 807,978 752,811 212,595 520,868 178,938 406,946 2,884,917 Source: Athens County Auditor The above expenditures are broken down by general fund department. Commissioners Contracts are services that are contracted for by the County. Transfers‐Out are payments made by the general fund to other County funds. 9

ATHENS COUNTY ECONOMY Athens County is located in the heart of southeastern Ohio; Athens County is adjoined by Perry, Morgan, Washington, Meigs, Vinton and Hocking Counties. U.S. Routes 33 and 50, along with Ohio Routes 13, 32, 56, 78, 278, 550, 682 and 691 serve the County. In 1805, the City of Athens was designated as the county seat and is located along the Hocking River in the southeastern part of Ohio. It is home to Ohio University, a large public research university with undergraduate and graduate programs. The City of Athens uses the “Essence of Athens”, an economic development plan designed to boost the 140 million tourism industry. Athens City is also a partner in the Baileys Trail System. The Baileys Trail System is located in the Appalachian foothills of Southeast Ohio. The Baileys will offer 88 miles of trails for every level of rider. Phase 2 construction wrapped up in the Fall of 2020 with 26 total miles on the ground, and another five miles of Phase 3 are set to open in 2021. The Baileys is built for all skill levels of cyclists, hikers, runners, adaptive athletes, hunters and nature enthusiasts. The trailhead is located at the Chauncey‐Dover Community Park. Ohio University continues to play an important role in the economic development of Athens County. They have continued ongoing major construction projects on their Building Systems and Infrastructure, Academic and Programmatic Facilities, and Utility System Upgrades. Ohio University allowed a limited number of students to return to campus in Fall of 2020 for in‐ person classes after holding virtual classes in Spring of 2020 due to the pandemic. The City of Nelsonville was incorporated in 1838 and is located in the northwest portion of Athens County on the edge of the Hocking Hills Region. It is home to Hocking College, the Hocking Valley Scenic Railway, the Rocky Outdoor Gear Store, Stuart’s Opera House, the Historic Public Square, and one‐of‐a‐kind shops and galleries. Nelsonville is a unique community steeped in the history of coal mining and brick making. It is best known for producing Star Brick, which can be found lining many of the sidewalks throughout the historic district. Nelsonville continues to develop its tourism industry by hosting various events including the Nelsonville Music Festival and the annual Parade of the Hills Festival in its historic town square. Adventure Pro Outdoors opened in 2020 which offers unique outdoor adventures throughout Hocking Hills and Wayne National Forest with ATV adventures and river trips and even lodging for great outdoor experiences. Stuart’s Opera House normally hosts over 75 events per year, but the Coronavirus pandemic required a shift to more virtual events in 2020. It is recognized as the cornerstone of the historic Public Square in Nelsonville, Ohio. Construction of a new Wastewater Treatment Plant is underway in Nelsonville. It is being constructed southeast of the city, along Elm Rock Road. Phase 1 of the project has been started and phase 2 is estimated to take around 18‐20 months to complete. The treatment plant will be larger and have more modern and environmentally friendly ways of getting rid of waste. Hocking College was founded in 1968 and offers more than 50 associate degree and certificate programs that provide students a hands‐on, quality education that is flexible, affordable and applicable to their career goals. Hocking College enrolls more than 5,000 students on its 2,300‐acre campus. The Plains Water and Sewer District, including the Albany Sewer District, the LE‐AX Water District, the Sunday Creek Valley Water District, the Hollister Water Association, the Bishopville Water District, Burr Oak Regional Water District, and the Tuppers Plains‐Chester Water District serve the rural areas of the County. The Trimble Township Wastewater Treatment facility serves Trimble Township and the villages of Glouster, Jacksonville and Trimble. The Albany Village Sewer System serves the Village of Albany and its local area. Athens is served by its own Water and Sewer District, while the City of Nelsonville Water and Sewer District now also includes Buchtel Water and Sewer District The unemployment rate for the County as of December 2020 was 7.30%, which was down from the rate of 5.30% the previous December. This was below both the national rate of 8.10%, and the state unemployment rate of 8.10%, respectively, for that same month. Revenue from the County’s 1.25% sales tax, the largest revenue source for the County’s General Fund and 911 Emergency Communication Fund, has grown at an average annual rate of 1.25% over the past five years. As of May 2021, sales tax is up 8.00% from 2020 due to increased sales by Out of State Retailers. 10

Athens County, Ohio Principal Employers 2020 Nature of Business Employer Ohio University Number of Emloyees (1) Education Ohio Health (O'Blenness Memorial Hosp. Health Care Athens County Government Government Hocking College Education Athens City Bd of Ed Education Wal‐Mart Stores Inc Trade Rocky Brands Manufacturing Kroger of Athens Trade Alexander Local Bd of Ed Education Holzer Health Care Total Total Employment within the County (2) 1 13.51% 762 556 343 330 320 204 201 190 175 6,892 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 2.70% 1.97% 1.22% 1.17% 1.13% 0.72% 0.71% 0.67% 0.62% 24.42% Source: Athens Area Chamber of Commerce (1) Source: Athens County Chamber of Commerce. (2) So

Athens County Auditor 15 S. ourt Street, Athens, OH 45701 (740)592-3223 Website: athenscountyauditor.org Photo redit: Jim Downard, Downard Photography of Athens, Ohio To the Citizens, Residents, and Friends of Athens County: I am pleased to provide you with the Athens County, Popular Annual