It's been almost a month since Ohio's stay-at-home order was put into place and the ripple effect from the safety precautions as a result, are expected to take a bite out of county budgets.

Counties rely heavily on money generated from the sales tax and court fees for operations.

With many retail stores closed for business, counties aren't cashing in on sales tax revenue.

Local county auditors in Trumbull, Mahoning and Columbiana counties are preparing for an estimated hit of 20 to 25-percent of lost revenue so far.

"I'd expect the March receipts to be not terribly effected, but starting to be, then April will be a considerable drop," Ralph Meacham said, auditor for Mahoning County.

Auditors say official numbers for April won't be out for two more months.

"June will be the tell all, we'll be able to tell in June possibly how bad our sales tax will get cut," Nancy Milliken said, auditor for Columbiana County.

The sooner Columbiana County can get back up and running, she believes they can make up for the losses.

Milliken says the county saw higher revenue than projected at the beginning of the year with $300,000 more than projected, which could provide the county some extra cushion.

Meacham says Mahoning County also saw higher revenue in January and February of 2020. He says that coupled with $7 million in reserves would help the county if it hit any major financial hurdles.

Money generated by the gas tax is also expected to take a hit down the road with fewer drivers filling up. Numbers from the state on gas tax revenue is due sometime this summer.

"If the gas sales are only down for a month or two, we'll be okay, because of the gas tax increase that the governor put in place last year, but if it goes much further than that, it could really impact a lot of what we do here," Pat Ginnetti said, Mahoning County Engineer.

Right now the uncertainty of the Capitol bill is expected to hold up $2 million in grant money from the Ohio Public Works Commission for Mahoning County.

"It's not the end of the world if it gets pushed to next year, it's certainly not ideal, but in these circumstances we've got to do what we can do," Ginnetti said.

Paving on Four Mile Run Road in Austintown and a portion of Racoon Road, and the bridge on that street, are among the projects that could be delayed.

Today President Trump announced that a future stimulus package could help local and state governments replace lost revenue.

Senator Sherrod Brown is calling for flexibility on how this money would be spent.