Budget Commission Regular Meeting – June 3, 2024
Meeting Details: The Geauga County Budget Commission met in Regular Session on Monday, June 3, 2024 at 10:00 am in the Auditor's Conference Room, 215 Main Street, Chardon, Ohio. This meeting was in person with a virtual option via MS Teams.
Meeting Attendance: Deputy Treasurer Caroline Mansfield substituting for Treasurer Chris Hitchcock, Prosecutor Jim Flaiz, and Auditor Chuck Walder.
Staff Attendance: Chief Deputy Auditor Ron Leyde, Deputy Auditors Tammy Most and Kristen Sinatra, and Fiscal Office Manager Pam McMahan (virtual).
County Staff: Geauga County Budget and Finance Manager Adrian Gorton (virtual) and Auditor’s Office Chief Compliance Officer and Administrator Kate Jacob (virtual).
Others and Members of the Public: Karen Walder, Russell Township Treasurer, this LWV Geauga Observer (virtual), and Diane Jones.
The meeting was called to order at 10:04 am.
Minutes: Minutes from the Regular Meeting on May 20, 2024 were approved and are available here.
The following Revenue Certifications were approved:
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Chardon Local Schools - Amendment #5 for a new total in the Special Revenue Fund of $7,914,224.40 and a total of $62,632,124.06 in the general fund. The total for all funds was $82.804,597.35. Appropriations do not exceed revenue.
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Montville Township - Amendment #4. $14,599 increase in the general fund for a new general fund total of $382,466.50, a Special Revenue Fund total of $1,527,491.04, and a Fiduciary Fund total of $215.65 for a total balance for all funds of $1,910,173.19. Appropriations do not exceed revenue.
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Burton Public Library - Amendment #2 - increase in the General Fund. New General Fund balance of $1,658,059.12 and all funds balance of $2,101,084.92
Other Business:
DD (Developmental Disabilities) Board - Chief Deputy Leyde brought up a question regarding MRDD. He asked for clarification on what they (Budget Commission) would like to see in regard to the leases for MRDD (Mental Retardation & Developmental Disabilities). Specifically he said that MRDD asked if they needed separate breakdowns for each lease. Observer Note: This Department was referred to as the MRDD (its prior name of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities), although the Department is now officially termed the Geauga County Board of Developmental Disabilities. Reviewer Note: The Budget Commission has previously expressed concern that the Board of Developmental Disabilities may have subsidized private entities that lease their property. More detailed background on the Board of Developmental Disabilities lease issue can be found in the March 18, 2024 and May 6, 2024 Budget Commission Observer Reports.
Mr. Walder stated that there appeared to be “upwards of six leases.” For each one, he stated, it should be clear “...what you are getting and what it is costing.” Mr. Walder said it should be as “clean” as possible so that taxpayers could see what is happening. He asked for revenue and expenses for each lease.
Ms. Mansfield said that, although she had not been at the meeting at which this was discussed previously, she would not disagree with Mr. Walder’s approach.
Mr. Walder said that in one case (Jewish Family Services), it appears that there is no charge for rent and that an MRDD employee is assigned to assist with this area.
Mr. Leyde said that Mr. Gorton (County Budget Director) had been working with MRDD, but they wanted clarity from the Budget Commission. Mr. Walder said that MRDD is a separate entity and should come to the Budget Commission for assistance.
Mr. Flaiz said it appears that they might be subsidizing some of the contracted leases but noted that it isn’t clear.
Mr. Walder said that there was also a misunderstanding as to what constitutes a lease.
Mr. Flaiz also said that it looks like for one of the leases that MRDD is receiving no compensation.
No official action was taken on this matter other than the instruction to Mr. Leyde to get detailed lease charges to each lease-holder along with corresponding expenses for each lease.
Russell Township - Mr. Walder referred to a letter they received from Russell Township with questions regarding how the Budget Commission views Reserve Funds and whether they would ever be considered to be unencumbered funds. Mr. Walder said that ORC (Ohio Revised Code) is very clear that, as long as the Reserve Fund is properly created, the Budget Commission can’t “claw back” those funds.
A related question had to do with getting approval to put on a levy when there is money in Capital Project Funds. Mr. Flaiz said that an entity can’t just stash funds away but, if they have a plan for using them, it would not be an issue.
In further discussion, Mr. Walder described that it appeared that Russell Township was considering mitigating their inside tax windfall, but they actually need money in their Police Operating Fund. The question was whether they should put on a levy or whether they could use the windfall funds for the Police. Mr. Walder said there were two ways to proceed. They could mitigate the windfall and put on the levy to give the voters a say in the expense, or they could deposit the windfall into the general fund and then shift it to the Police fund.
Mr. Flaiz said that there was a resolution prepared for a different entity in which they made such a shift to avoid a levy and that they would send it to Russell Township.
Mrs. Karen Walder thanked the Budget Commission for the “commentary” that would be helpful in their budget discussions.
General Discussion
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Potential 2025 Tax Mitigation - Staff said that letters were prepared to go to all entities including Townships,the City of Chardon, Villages, and Boards of Education regarding the continuing inside millage windfall. These letters ask that consideration be given to the taxpayers in terms of mitigating the impacts of the windfall in inside millage property taxes as a result of the 2024 increase in property values due to the assessment completed in 2023. The question was raised as to whether a letter should also go to the County and it was decided that they would send such a letter.
Public Comment - This Observer asked for confirmation that the letters listed above regarding the 2025 tax mitigation efforts that were being recommended were also being sent to Boards of Education, and Mr. Walder stated that they were.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:30 am.
Next Meeting: Regular Meeting on Monday, June 17, 2024 at 10:00 am in the Auditor’s Conference Room at 215 Main Street, Chardon, Ohio.
Observer: Gail Roussey
Editor: Anne Ondrey
Reviewer: Sarah McGlone
Submitted: 6/11/24
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