Stephen Michael Kellat

Stephen Michael Kellat at

Meanwhile I'm caught between the proverbial rock and hard place. The City of Ashtabula relies on income tax withholdings from employees of businesses within its jurisdiction. Unfortunately most businesses within its jurisdiction are shuttered due to the lockdown and it is receiving roughly 1-10% of normal receipts. The state is mandating communities slash their budgets by a minimum of 20%.


My city's administration is possibly going to be out of cash within the next few weeks. If it runs out of cash I'll be without police and fire protection. The public health board would also stop functioning for the city, too.


We've learned from this whole incident that we can destroy an economy very easily. I'm not sure Ashtabula's will come back from this. If the city administration goes under the business environment locally gets even more unfavorable than it already was.