Sales tax revenues to provide seed money for college scholarship program

County Executive Ed FitzGerald says that raising the education level among workers will play in important role in driving economic growth in Cuyahoga County.

During his campaign he championed programs like early childhood education and higher education. Among his promises: Offer college scholarships to county residents.

"Occupations that require a college degree are growing twice as fast as other occupations,” he noted in a policy statement he posted online.

In his State of the County Address, FitzGerald outlined a way to make $16 million a year available for several programs, including a scholarship program. He proposed diverting 10 percent of county sales tax revenue to generate the money.
   
About $7 million in sales taxes would go toward education and to solicit matching donations from businesses and foundations. The money would be split to fulfill a charter mandate to establish a college scholarship fund for county residents and to expand the county's Universal Pre-Kindergarten program.

In addition to the scholarship program, the money would help boost early childhood education, send sheriff"s patrols assist local police in hot spot crime areas and jump-start a $100 million economic development fund.

The initiatives would also mean cuts to existing county programs and layoffs for hundreds of county employees.
   
"We will not reduce the chronic unemployment of this region by adding to a public payroll but by ensuring that more residents earn a living wage on a private payroll,” he said in his address.
   
The scholarship program isn"t a reality yet. But FitzGerald has outlined a plan for how to fund it.

Based on on his announcement, we move the Fitz-O- Meter for this promise to In the Works.