How does your county commission affect you?

Election season often feels dominated by national headlines and statewide races. Meanwhile, the offices most directly affecting your day-to-day life are often ignored or unrealized.

County commissioners are a huge example.

The positions do not generate headlines, but they control a lot of local tax dollars, what gets built in your community and how efficiently county government operates. Roads, public safety funding, development decisions and even how aggressively local government grows all run through the county commission.

In Ohio, county government is not a small government in practice. Each of the state’s 88 counties is governed by a three-member board of commissioners that serves as the primary budgeting and administrative authority. In effect, a handful of elected officials control major public spending decisions rivaling mid-sized corporations.

This column first published on DaytonDailyNews.com. Read the full article here.