Employees

Ismail Turay Jr.

Dayton-area grocery store employees have worked long, arduous hours in the past week as customers — some irate — rush to build up their food supplies in reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In some cases, clerks have had to work seven consecutive days, and stores have adjusted their hours to allow employees to spend more time with their families, but also to restock shelves and sanitize their facilities.

“We are all human and, yes, we have the same worries as everyone,” said Jessie Kuhn, marketing and communications director for Dorothy Lane Market. “But it is because of our commitment to our families, our community and our company that we are here and we are trying our best. We ask that people remember that as they see us in the stores. A smile and a kind word go a long way.”

Long work days during a crisis can take a mental toll on people, and could lead to alcohol and drug abuse, domestic violence and other problems, said Helen Jones-Kelley, executive director of the Montgomery County Alcohol, Drug Addiction & Mental Health Services.

“We are in a space that we have not occupied before in terms of how we are trying to manage our own safety and mental wellness, as well as being of service to others,” she said. “Schools are closed, we have kids at home, a lot of people have elderly relatives or other people that they

are providing care for. And it’s really hard to work when you’ve got to worry about everything else that is going on in your personal life.”

Several Dayton-area grocers such as Dorothy Lane Market and Kroger are look- ing to hire additional employees to give their staff some relief while also meeting cus- tomers’ demands.

“We anticipate our asso- ciates are going to have to spend some time at home taking care of their kids and taking care of their family. We want to make sure that we’re prepared for that,” said Erin Rolfes, spokeswoman for Kroger’s Cincinnati-Dayton division.

The company announced that it is looking to hire about 10,000 workers nationwide in a variety of positions at its grocery stores, warehouses and distribution centers. Those who qualify could begin working in as little as 48 hours after after applying, Rolfes said. The posi- tions and applications can be found at jobs.kroger.com.

Many of the open posi- tions likely existed prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, including 200-300 vacancies in the Cincinnati-Dayton division, she said, not- ing that the company isn’t putting a cap on the number of people they hire in the region.

Dorothy Lane Market is looking to hire up to 100 temporary workersat its three area stores to give their employees some relief and assist people who may have been laid off from restau- rants, bars and other busi- nesses that have been hurt by the pandemic, said Scott Achs, assistant store direc- tor at the Washington Square location at 6177 Far Hills Ave. Job seekers can apply on the company’s website, Doroth- yLane.com/Careers.

The number of associates they’re looking to hire could change as the situation evolves,

Employment is one of the best ways to help people so they can pay their bills, Jones-Kelley said.

“They have a healthy place to go with some activities to engage in, rather than sitting at home with nothing else to do,” she said. “So, this has so many layers right now, with respect to the overall mental wellness of the com- munity.”

Employment aside, area stores the Dayton Daily News talked to said all of their employees have worked overtime since cases appeared in Ohio and DeWine ordered schools, restaurants and bars to close.

The long hours, taking steps to ensure that employees and customers don’t get sick and the fact that they have not been able to fulfill all of their customers’ needs have been “very stressful” for the Dorothy Lane Market staff, Achs said.

Many area stores have had to alter their hours in an effort to give work- ers some relief, in addition to restocking the shelves and other administrative duties at the stores. All Kroger stores in the Cincinna- ti-Dayton region will be open 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. until further notice, Rolfes said. Likewise, Dot’s, located at 2274 Patterson Road, adjusted its hours, and is now open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., store owner Nick Moshos said.

“I want them to be able to go home and be with their families,” he said. “I’m very proud and thankful for my employees. We could not do this without them. “

Barbara Hay, who works in Dot’s meat department, said in her 21 years at the store, she’s never been as busy as they’ve been the past week. The fear of contracting the coronavirus coupled with the influx of customers were initially stress- ful for her. But she’s come to grips with it.

“I just left it in God’s hands,” Hay said. “It worried me at first, but I’ve just left it in God’s hands, and what’s going to happen is going to happen. I just pray that people have the sense to do the right thing so this doesn’t spread.”

Hay takes extra precau- tions to protect herself and others around her because she’s vulnerable, given her age and health, she said, noting that she has emphysema.

Diane Chasteen, a cashier in the home delivery department, said while the store has been chaotic the past couple of weeks, she’s been taking things one day at a time.

Yet the staff remains professional and continues to treat customers with the utmost respect, said Scott Thomas, a Belmont resident who has been shopping at Dot’s for about 40 years.

The majority of customers are understanding and patient with the staff. But once in a while a customer becomes irate and verbally abusive toward the workers, Moshos and other area grocery store employees say.

The city of Dayton and other Ohio governments expect to lose millions of dollars in tax revenue as economic activity slows to a crawl because of COVID- 19, threatening their budgets and ability to deliver services during the global pandemic.

Local governments, similar to the airlines and other battered industries, say they will need some type of bail- out from the state and federal government to cope with collapsing revenues, which fund vital public services, including police, fire and EMS and trash pickup.

“It’s not like we can stop providing these services, especially when people are going to be sick,” said Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley. “We’re going to need help from the state and federal government, so we are aggressively pursuing that every day.”

Dayton expects to lose millions of dollars in income tax revenue, and other local governments are worried about large decreases in col- lections.

“It’s scary times,” said Montgomery County Commission President Judy Dodge. “We are going to the feds and the state, because we have to — we’re not going to put it on our citizens.”

Income taxes account for about three-fourths of Dayton’s general fund budget, and city leaders predict col- lections to decline sharply because many employers have cut workers or their hours after being forced to shut down or scale back.

The city collected about $133.6 million in income tax revenue in 2019, including about $11.25 million in March and $15.4 million in April, which was the highest tally of the year.

Dayton, a regional job center and the largest city in the area, must continue providing services citizens depend on during this crisis, like police, fire and EMS and trash, Whaley said.

But the city needs to pay for those services with lim- ited resources, and there’s no way to know at this point how much damage corona- virus will do to the economy and government cof- fers, Whaley said.

But, she said, there will be millions of dollars in losses.

“It’s going to be bad,” she said. “We’re modeling — we don’t know how hard we’re going to be hit, we don’t know how long the orders will last, and those are all things we’re worried about.”

Like the city of Dayton, Montgomery County declared a state of emer- gency in large part in the hopes of receiving state and federal funding relief related to the outbreak.

The county estimated that it would collect about $101.3 million in sales taxes this year, accounting for about 56% of general fund income.

T he county originally expected sales taxes to increase by more than 2.8%, but collections could tumble since businesses have been ordered to close and consumers increasingly are sheltering in place.

The county does not have the resources to cover the cost and impact of a long- term pandemic, said Montgomery County Administrator Michael Colbert.

Colbert said he hopes the federal and state governments will work together to provide local jurisdic- tions with assistance, pos- sibly using some of the state reserves.

He said the county may have to make budget adjust- ments, depending on revenues.

“Local governments are going to take a big hit here,” he said.

Greene County, which also declared a state of emergency, receives about $28 million annually from sales taxes, which make up more than half of its general fund revenue.

A large portion of the county revenue also comes from investments, casino funds and the local government fund, said Brandon Huddleson, county administrator.

“We expect all of those sources to be drastically reduced over the next few months,” he said.

But Huddleson said Greene County is in a strong financial position because of higher revenues and careful spending in recent years.

He said commissioners deliberately set money aside for emergencies like this.

Other local cities say they are trying to prepare for budget hits because of the outbreak.

“Given the recent business closings announced by the state, we anticipate that this will have an impact on our income tax collection revenue,” said Lebanon City Manager Scott Brunka. “As the situation continues to develop, we will evaluate if any mid-year budgetary adjustments may be necessary as a result of this.”

This week, the U.S. Conference of Mayors requested that Congress provide $250 billion in assistance to help cities provide services, protect their economies and stop the spread of the virus, according to Mayor Whaley, who is a second vice-president of the organization.

She said the federal government could use the existing Community Development Block Grant formula to distribute money quickly to cities.

Whaley also wants the state to greatly increase local government fund distributions by tapping its Rainy Day Fund, which last year nearly had $2.7 billion.

“We have to find other sources of income,” she said.

The hospitality sector has mostly shut down, and if other parts of the economy do the same and the shutdown lasts months, cities’ income tax collections are going to fall off a cliff, officials say.

“I believe is is going to be deep and expansive,” said Dayton City Manager Shelley Dickstein. “Bailing out from COVID-19 will be extraordinary — there has been global disruption in the economy.”

The city is paying close attention to its finances, doing weekly financial modeling and has implemented a hiring freeze and suspended or cut contract and materials expenses, she said.

The city will have to continue to make “expenditure corrections” and does not want to spend down its cash reserves, , she said.

The city maintains about 15% of its annual general fund operating budget in reserves, which is about 56 days of general fund operations, according to a city audit summary.

Counties that receive sales taxes initially could see a boost in collections, since many people went on spending sprees to stockpile goods and prepare to hunker down, said Kevin Willardsen, assistant professor of economics at Wright State University.

The “front-loaded” spending will end, and after that likely there would be sizable drop-offs in sales the following months, Willardsen said.

“Right now, what people are doing is ‘consumption smoothing’ — they are buying a bunch of stuff now and will consume it over a period of time,” he said.

The longer this crisis lasts, the worse it will get, because consumers won’t be shifting spending from one month to another, but instead will reduce consumption, he said.

Contact this reporter at 937225-0749 or email Cornelius. Frolik@coxinc.com.