County Commissioners’ Resolution Requiring Return of ARPA Funds May Face Legal Issues
Despite Not Being a Budget Commission Issue, According to Prosecutor Flaiz
Budget Commission Meeting – October 21, 2024
Meeting Details: The Geauga County Budget Commission met in Regular Session on Monday, October 21, 2024 at 10:00 am in the Auditor's Conference Room, 215 Main Street, Chardon, Ohio. The meeting was in person with a virtual option via MS Teams.
Meeting Attendance: Prosecutor Jim Flaiz, Treasurer Chris Hitchcock, and Auditor Chuck Walder.
Staff Attendance: Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Kristen Rine, Automatic Data Processing Chief Deputy Administrator Frank Antenucci, Chief Compliance Officer Kate Jacob, Chief Deputy Auditor Ron Leyde, Deputy Auditors Tammy Most and Kristen Sinatra, and Chief Operations Officer Pam McMahan.
County Staff: Budget and Finance Manager Adrian Gorton (virtual).
Members of the Public: This LWV Geauga Observer (virtual).
The meeting was called to order at 10:06 am.
Minutes: Minutes from the Regular Meeting on October 7, 2024 were approved and will be available here when posted.
The following Revenue Certifications were approved:
Reviewer Note: An explanation of the different types of funds in revenue certifications can be found here.
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Bainbridge Township - Amendment #9. $4,230,348.65 in the general fund, $19,510,388.72 in special revenue funds, $2,015,383.34 in debt service funds, $2,497,440.76 in capital project funds, and $539.02 in fiduciary funds for a total of $28,254,100.49. Appropriations do not exceed revenue.
Bainbridge’s amendment certified an increase in the EMA (Emergency Management Agency) ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) First Responder Grant special revenue fund.
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Chester Township - Amendment #8. $3,123,738.19 in the general fund, $12,399,643.64 in special revenue funds, $282,900.00 in capital project funds, and $13,011.99 in special assessment funds for a total of $15,819,293.82. Appropriations do not exceed revenue.
Chester’s amendment reflected the establishment of several capital project reserve funds:
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General Fund Reserve: $52,626
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Road Fund Reserve: $138,208
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Fire Fund Reserve: $43,545
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Police Fund Reserve: $43,489
Mr. Hitchcock asked if each reserve fund has a specific timeline and purpose. Mr. Walder explained that the reserve funds could be dissolved and then those monies would be available to be used for other purposes. He noted that, while the money is within a specific reserve fund, it can only be used for the specific purpose of that fund. He stated that the funds were set up for 5 years.
Mr. Hitchcock inquired if it was the duty of the Budget Commission to monitor the status of Chester’s reserve funds. Mr. Walder clarified that the Budget Commission will see the status of these reserve funds each year when Chester’s annual budget is submitted. He said that “... we have limited authority over reserves.” Mr. Hitchcock said his concern was “... not authority, it’s transparency.” Mr. Flaiz agreed that the Budget Commission would be monitoring the reserve funds each year at the Budget Hearings. Mr. Walder noted that the money in Chester’s reserve funds “... should not be considered unencumbered cash.”
The Budget Commission voted to acknowledge the following Appropriation Transfers:
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Geauga Trumbull Solid Waste: $100,103.11 in revenue transfers within the General Fund
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Geauga Public Health: $12,000 in revenue transfers within the Injury Prevention Fund
Discussion on County Commissioners’ Resolution Requiring Return of ARPA Funds
Ms. Sinatra mentioned the County Commissioners’ recent Resolution requiring American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money that was used to fund payroll from several County departments to be returned within 30 days, and she asked if the Budget Commission wanted to respond to this. Observer Note: Please see the October 10, 2024 Board of County Commissioners' LWVG Observer Report for more information on this Resolution. Of note, funds under the purview of each of the Budget Commissioners were among those affected by this Resolution.
Mr. Flaiz stated that he did not feel it was a Budget Commission issue and noted that the Budget Commission was not involved in this Resolution. He went on to say that his office has received inquiries from the affected departments about what to do. He said: “My entire civil staff and I are meeting to divvy up the various legal research issues that we're going to have to do because of the mess that this has created and the lack of communication from the Commissioners’ Office.” Mr. Flaiz said that one of the issues includes whether or not the funds can legally be returned to ARPA, which he said they will have to examine on a case by case basis. He further explained: “The Commissioners can't compel any of us to take any action with respect to the funds that we're statutorily responsible for. So we'll go through each fund. We'll talk, we'll advise each affected official and then probably do some sort of response to this. I don't know if it's going to be accomplished within the 30 days, probably not, but we’ll try our best. But I don't think this Budget Commission has to do anything, unless it gets to a point where we're transferring funds, I guess we'd have to certify those revenues back into ARPA. That seems unlikely to me, but we'll see.”
Public Comment
This observer requested copies of all documents from the meeting, asked for the names of all meeting attendees not appearing on camera, and clarified which Resolution from the County Commissioners was just discussed.
Executive Session
Mr. Flaiz made a motion to move into Executive Session to discuss pending litigation under Ohio Revised Code 121.22 G3. He stated that no action would be taken following the Executive Session, so this observer left the meeting at approximately 10:16 am.
Next Meeting: The next Regular Meeting will be Monday, November 4, 2024 at 10:00 am in the Auditor's Conference Room, 215 Main Street, Chardon, Ohio.
Observer: Sarah McGlone
Editor: Anne Ondrey
Reviewer: Gail Roussey
Submitted: 10/23/24
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