Kristen Eisenhauer, Richland County’s 4-H youth development educator, used a Nov. 10 session on the county’s 2027 budget to ask commissioners for more Extension staffing. According to the source, she has held the post for about six months and said the office needs more hours and personnel to rebuild capacity and extend OSU Extension’s reach. Commissioners are preparing a countywide spending plan due by the end of December.
The office once had about eight full-time employees before the 2008 financial crisis, including three educators, two office associates and three program assistants. County support was $200,000 in 2007, then $75,000 in 2009 and $40,000 in 2010, according to the report. It stood at $52,000 for 2026 and funds Eisenhauer plus a 20-hour part-time assistant. Fiscal officer Jesse Buxton tied the decline to state and local revenue shortfalls that year.
Eisenhauer presented three choices. One would keep current staffing and cover baseline costs; another would raise the office associate to 40 hours; the third would make the associate 32 hours and add a 32-hour program assistant. She favored the third. A program assistant would divide time between 4-H and agriculture, work in schools and partner with agricultural and conservation agencies, she said.
Commissioner Tony Vero questioned whether the third option maximized county dollars. He noted that state and federal funds cover an average of 55% of an educator’s salary and benefits, leaving a 45% county match, while support staff are locally funded. He suggested a two-educator alternative. Buxton estimated two educators plus a 32-hour associate would cost the county $143,594.88 and draw roughly $12,000 to $25,000 more in state match.
Vero and Commissioner Cliff Mears praised Eisenhauer’s work since April, the report says. No vote was taken; commissioners asked Extension officials to return with detailed costs for a two-educator structure.