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Dear
Wood County Resident:
Thank you for the honor of
serving as your Commissioner, I am grateful for the opportunity to
continue service to the citizens of Wood County and thank you for your
vote in the past election. By record numbers people continue to want to live, work,
obtain an education and raise a family in Wood County.
Yet there is no question our state and national economy has had an
impact on Wood County, displacing workers and forcing cutbacks in family
budgets and in the budgets of county offices. However, we
continue to work hard to diversify our tax base to bring new and diverse
jobs to our county that are not tied to any particular segment of the
economy. During the summer of 2008 we had a chance to meet
with the Governor to discuss Ohio's economy and what Wood County is
doing so well to provide leadership in keeping our Wood County economy
moving forward.
Our agreement to bring Bass Pro to Rossford is one of the greatest
retail accomplishments in the history of Northwest Ohio. Bass Pro meant jobs for our construction trades and retail jobs for our citizens.
Our efforts to bring diverse retail shopping opportunities to our
citizens means a broader tax base to pay for important government
services and our citizens do not have to travel as far for purchases
saving money on gas.
Our sales tax rate is lower in Wood County than our neighboring counties so citizens can save money
on taxable purchases (televisions, refrigerators, clothing etc...) all
while helping our economy by shopping locally. Additionally, CSX
is moving forward with its $80 million dollar intermodal facility near
North Baltimore, breaking ground in 2009 with the promise of jobs
following completion of construction. First Solar wraps up its
$135 million dollar expansion in 2009 with new jobs coming to its
facility as well - complimenting our electric generating wind turbines
and furthering our position as the renewable green energy leaders of
northwest Ohio. These are examples of job creation efforts from
one end of the county to the other.
Earlier this year we kicked
off our Vacation Local campaign by promoting our new Travel and Tourism
web site
www.woodcountytourism.com
If you have not taken your
family to Snook's Dream Car Museum, Fort Meigs, The Wood County
Historical Museum...just to name a few - please consider the many family
attractions and sites in Wood County that will provide quality vacation
experiences with little cost and travel expense during these tight
budget times.
One of the most important jobs I have is to listen to our citizens.
With that I want to provide you with my home telephone number and toll
free office telephone number so that you can reach me if you have any
questions, comments or suggestions of things I can be doing to
additionally help Wood County continue through these difficult economic
times (419)353-3805 or 1-866-860-4140.
I am proud to serve this great county. And as I have always
pledged, I
will continue to make open, honest and accessible government available
to all our citizens.
Tim W. Brown,
Wood County Commissioner
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