By Wayne Gates – 

The Brown County Commissioners are already looking ahead to the 2018 county budget. The picture is bleak.
Ohio will stop collecting a sales tax based on Medicare spending in 2018, which will result in a loss of approximately $750,000 in revenue to the county, according to the County Commissioners Association of Ohio.
The current state budget as laid out in House Bill 49 reflects that loss of revenue. This loss, coupled with the cost of housing jail inmates out of the county, is putting a squeeze on the county general fund.