Voters in Summit County will decide if Kristen Scalise will continue as their fiscal officer or if challenger Scott Sigel will assume the role.
The Summit County Fiscal Officer is responsible for four government divisions that manage taxation and licensing:
- The Auditor Division disburses the county’s taxes, which amount to more than $1 billion collected each year. The division also assists residents with property appraisals and real estate taxes.
- The Recorder Division stores documents such as the county’s deeds, mortgages and land contracts.
- The Treasurer Division collects real estate and property taxes from the county’s 74 tax districts and manages the county’s investments.
- The Services Division issues various licenses in the county, such as those for vendors.
Democratic incumbent Scalise has held the position since 2011 and is running for a fourth consecutive term. She aspires to maintain Summit County residents’ finances responsibly while finding ways to help people pay their taxes.
“The No. 1 priority always remains the same,” Scalise said, “and that is safeguarding taxpayer dollars.”
As Fiscal Officer, Scalise said her proudest achievement in office includes the creation of the Unclaimed Funds program in 2012, which helps county residents reclaim excess funds paid to local county offices. Since the program started, she said, more than $3.2 million has been returned to county residents.
She also praised the Fiscal Office’s veterans identification program, which was founded in 2013. Through the program, Scalise said, more than 8,700 IDs have been issued to honorably discharged veterans in the county to prove their veteran status so they can receive discounts at businesses.
Scalise said she continues to manage staffing shortages in the Fiscal Office while working with a constrained budget, which she said has been among her biggest challenges in recent years.
Scalise, 57, lives in Green. She earned a Bachelor of Science in accounting from the University of Akron and holds certifications as a Certified Public Accountant and Certified Fraud Examiner. She also holds an Ohio Financial Accountability Certificate and earned the designation of Chartered Global Management Accounting.
She also chairs the Summit County Land Bank, a nonprofit founded in 2012 that manages abandoned and blighted properties with the goal of redeveloping them.
Republican Scott Sigel wants to end Democratic dominance in Summit County positions
Republican challenger Sigel missed a scheduled phone interview with Signal Akron and did not respond to subsequent phone calls or text messages for comment on his candidacy.
He told the Akron Beacon Journal he wants to run for Fiscal Officer to change the nature of Democratic dominance in county-elected positions.
Sigel, a registered pharmacy technician and resident of Fairlawn, told the Beacon Journal he wanted to advocate for term limits in county offices through a charter modification.
He also told the newspaper he wants to lower county residents’ state property tax increases through new funding solutions.
