County indicators show modest gains

COSHOCTON - By some measurements, Coshocton County either stayed the course or made modest gains in 2016, local leaders report.

Real estate transfers and sales tax collections, however, showed revenue dips.

What can those markers mean for the future of Coshocton County? Some local leaders say a new federal administration could impact the economic future, but it's too early tell in which direction.

County wide, home sales last year topped each of the previous five years, continuing an upward trend, according to Tom Dile, past president of the Coshocton County Board of Realtors.

In 2016, 271 homes sold in Coshocton County at a total of $31,171, 615, according to the North East Ohio Real Estate Exchange, which compiles local listings. That compares to 242 homes at purchase prices totaling $26,660,114 in 2015 and 209 residences selling for a total of $16,424,865 in 2011.

"(The local existing housing market) is very stable," Dile said, "a slight upward trend. For our economy, our housing market is doing pretty good."

The average sale price for a Coshocton County home was $115,024 in 2016, Dile said. The lowest price was $5,000 for a mobile home on Wilson Avenue and $6,000 for a house on South Lawn. The most expensive home, featuring eight bedrooms and 5,520 square feet of space on 150 acres on Township Road 216, sold for $1.19 million, he said.

New housing construction is not doing as well, Dile said. "The last I heard, we only had 10 houses built last year, which is down," he said.

The local job market contributes to that decline, he said, adding he does not expect new home construction to reverse "any time in the near future, not until we start getting more jobs in town."

Dile predicts the existing housing market should remain "fairly steady," but said it, too, will rely on future jobs.

Unemployment did decrease countywide from 7.5 percent in 2014 to 6.3 percent in 2015, said Mindy Fehrman, director of Coshocton County Job and Family Services. The annual percentage for 2016 is not yet available, she said, but the county reported a 6.5 percent unemployment rate in December. Seasonal jobs over the holidays help lower the December mark, she said, while the annual rate will likely be higher than that.

Locally, recent layoffs at Fanatics could be offset by planned hirings at Annin Flagmakers, Fehrman said.

The December unemployment rate ranked Coshocton County as the 14th highest of the state's 88 counties, according to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. Mercer County had the lowest rate at 3.1 percent and Monroe County had the highest at 9.6 percent.

The Coshocton County JFS office posts available jobs online at coshoctonjfs.org and on its Facebook page, Ohio Means Jobs - Coshocton County, Fehrman said, as well as on a jobs board in the agency's basement at 725 Pine St.

Jon Keeling, director of communications for the ODJFS, said monthly initial unemployment claims can show a clearer indication of trends in actual layoffs. Coshocton County reported 344 initial unemployment claims in December 2016, compared to 640 in December 2011, he said.

The department expects to release a state report on unemployment figures on March 3, Keeling said, with a countywide breakdown expected to follow on March 7.

While many people believe a new administration in Washington, D.C., could affect employment throughout the nation, Fehrman said "I don't really have a pulse on what we can expect for the rest of the year."

Dorothy Skowrunski, executive director of the Coshocton Port Authority, said that Kraft Foods Inc. and McWane Ductile made big changes last year that are proving beneficial.

Kraft expanded its local plant and doubled its workforce to more than 700 employees, she said, making it the county's largest employer.

McWane Ductile added a utility pole division, she said, and should benefit when the country starts investing in infrastructure.

County Auditor Chris Sycks reported that while real estate transfers involving money increased in number in 2016, the value of those sales decreased significantly. In 2016, 874 transfers reflected $89.8 million in value, she said, compared to 863 transfers in 2015 that netted just over $117 million.

Significant sales were reported in 2015, Sycks said. The Downtowner Plaza changed hands that year at a cost of $10 million, she said, while Autumn Healthcare sold for $6.2 million. Seven other sales ranged between $1 million and $2 million.

County sales tax collections decreased very slightly, by about three-quarters of a percent, Sycks said, from $5.81 million in 2015 to $5.77 million in 2016. She attributed that decrease to a federal ruling that now prohibits states from charging Medicare providers with the sales tax unless they charge all health care providers.

The lodging excise tax reflected an increase last year: $89,611 in 2016 versus $88,882, Sycks said.

One final indicator showed mixed results. New titles for motor vehicles grew in number over the previous year, 21,209 to 20,926, according to Clerk of Courts Camila Graham. But fees and sales tax to the state and county from those sales decreased from $3.36 million in 2015 to $3.2 million in 2016, she said.

Jeff Drennen, owner of Jeff Drennen Chrysler, Ford and GM dealerships with nine franchises in Coshocton and Zanesville, said consumer confidence in the economy and interest rates are key drivers in the car industry.

"Let's talk about that next year, after this administration has been in there for a year," he said. "How's that?"

Drennen said used-car sales in his dealerships increased 17 percent in 2016 over 2015 levels, while new car sales increased 5 percent.

"We're off to a very good start in '17 in the first quarter," he said.

In Coshocton County, used-car sales are "two-to-one over new," Drennen said. He credits lower prices on used vehicles for that trend. Leases make up about 30 percent of his business, he said, while retail sales of new and used vehicles comprise the other 70 percent.

Trucks and small sport utility vehicles lead sales in Coshocton County, he said.

Drennen said his sales have increased year over year since 2010, and before that were affected by the Great Recession.

Technology, too, has changed the way cars are sold, he said. Online third-party, car-buying sites prove attractive to millennials, he said, while their parents and grandparents preferred visiting dealerships. The internet has become "the biggest game-changer in the industry, ever," he said.

While the internet presents challenges to dealerships, "it also creates a tremendous opportunity for us to sell cars outside of our market," he said.

Drennen said 35 to 40 percent of his sales are to buyers outside Coshocton County, which he credits to the internet. In the future, he hopes his dealerships' website "can become less informational, more transactional."

jwilliams6@gannett.com

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