Budget Commission Tables Annual Millage Adjustments
for Bonds and Emergency Levies
Budget Commission Meeting – November 3, 2025
Meeting Details: The Geauga County Budget Commission met in Regular Session on Monday, November 3, 2025 at 10:00 am in the Auditor's Conference Room, 215 Main Street, Chardon, Ohio. The meeting was in person with a virtual attendance option via MS Teams. To attend Budget Commission meetings virtually via MS Teams, email an invitation request to Pam McMahan at PMcMahan@geauga.oh.gov.
Meeting Attendance: Prosecutor Jim Flaiz, Treasurer Chris Hitchcock, and ADP (Automatic Data Processing) Chief Deputy Administrator Frank Antenucci (substituting for Auditor Chuck Walder, who attended virtually).
Staff Attendance: Deputy Auditors Tammy Most and Kristen Sinatra, Chief Operations Officer Pam McMahan, and Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Kristen Rine (virtual).
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 10:00 am.
Minutes: Minutes for the Regular Meeting on October 20, 2025 were approved and are available here.
The following Revenue Certificates were approved:
Reviewer Note: An explanation of the different types of funds in revenue certifications can be found
here.
-
Berkshire Local Schools - Amendment #4. $25,255,719.81 in the general fund, $4,469,141.93 in special revenue funds, $1,609,211.37 in debt service funds, $722,624.59 in capital project funds, $882,491.27 in enterprise funds, $480,181.82 in internal service funds, and $197,472.01 in fiduciary funds for a total of $33,616,842.80.
Berkshire’s amendment reflects a general fund increase of $174,328 and a special revenue fund increase of $13,395.58.
-
Newbury Township - Amendment #7. $1,788,324.97 in the general fund, $4,110,745.92 in special revenue funds, $965,588.24 in debt service funds, $661,344.33 in capital project funds, and $1,334.52 in special assessment funds for a total of $7,527,337.98.
First, the Budget Commission approved Newbury’s establishment of a capital reserve fund for vehicle equipment. Then, the Budget Commissioners approved the amendment reflecting a $150,000 increase in capital project funds; all of the $150,000 went to fund the newly established capital reserve fund.
-
Bainbridge Township - Amendment #8. $4,301,900.37 in the general fund, $20,609,778.33 in special revenue funds, $1,843,788.74 in debt service funds, $5,144,224.59 in capital project funds, and $2,272.83 in fiduciary funds for a total of $31,901,964.86.
Bainbridge’s amendment reflects an increase in the cemetery special revenue fund of $2,272.83, an increase of $120,000 in the capital reserve fund, and an increase in fiduciary funds of $1,733.04.
-
Geauga County - Amendment #13 - $69,339,402.59 in the general fund, $127,819,571.84 in special revenue funds, $5,172,649.58 in debt service funds, $1,143,702.06 in special assessment funds, $31,045,528.76 in capital project funds, $52,255,044.13 in enterprise funds, $1,759,600.37 in internal service funds, and $4,706,706.85 in fiduciary funds for a total of $293,242,206.18.
Geauga County’s amendment reflected an increase to the MRDD (mental retardation developmental disabilities) residential services special revenue fund of $1,470,000. The Budget Commissioners postulated that the County will soon reach $300,000,000 in revenue. Mr. Walder reminded everyone that next year will be the triennial property revaluation, which he thinks will result in increased property values and therefore increased tax revenue, which he said he found concerning.
Other Business: Annual Millage Adjustment for Entities with Bonds/Emergency Levies
Ms. Sinatra explained that each year the millage for entities with bonds has to be recalculated to ensure that “there’s enough money to support the debt.” Observer Note: Later in the discussion, it was established that the millage of fixed-sum levies (levies that collect a set sum of money each year) also must be adjusted annually to ensure that the levy amount approved by the voters is collected. Mr. Flaiz pointed out that sometimes entities collect more than they need for their bond payments, so the Budget Commission reduces millage collection “to align the tax collection with the debt payment for the year.” Ms. Sinatra noted that these adjustments need to be added to the County’s report to the State that is used to generate the taxation rates. Ms. Most and Ms. Sinatra explained that the millage adjustments have been circulated to the Treasurers of four entities, and some of them disagreed with what the Auditor’s Office had calculated. Observer Note: The entities with bonds are Kenston Schools, Berkshire Schools, and the Geauga County County Public Library. West Geauga Schools has two fixed-sum emergency levies. Ms. Most said that the Berkshire Treasurer (Beth McCaffrey) wanted their bond millage to be at 2.5 mills whereas the Auditor’s Office staff came up with 2.447 mills. She said that originally the Kenston Treasurer (Seth Cales) was unhappy with the Auditor’s Office recommended millage because his calculation of need was very different from what the Auditor’s staff used. However, she noted that Mr. Cales got back to them to say he realized that he was looking at the wrong debt schedule, and he is now fine with the recommended millage.
Mr. Walder said he would like more time to go through the numbers more closely. In particular, he noted that he was having trouble matching the Berkshire Treasurer’s numbers, so he wanted additional time to try to figure out the matter.
Mr. Hitchcock asked about West Geauga Schools’ inclusion among the entities needing millage adjustments. Ms. Sinatra explained that the district’s two emergency levies are required to bring in fixed sums of money (no more, no less). In the ensuing discussion, it was noted that the district is trying to convert these two levies into a single substitute levy at the ballot box on November 4, but if this effort fails, the emergency levies will continue to exist as-is, meaning the millage will need to be adjusted in order to arrive at the precise dollar amount the voters approved for each emergency levy. Reviewer Note: Unofficial election results reflect that the West Geauga Schools’ ballot issue to convert its emergency levies to a substitute levy was voted down. See Board of Elections results here. Mr. Hitchcock asked about the effect of the State Legislature’s action to eliminate emergency levies on West Geauga. Mr. Walder explained that if the voters do not approve combining them into a single substitute levy, West Geauga’s emergency levies would be allowed to remain in place until they expire because they are grandfathered in.
Mr. Walder said he would have preferred it if West Geauga converted each emergency levy into a separate substitute levy in order to give taxpayers more options. Mr. Flaiz said he didn’t have an issue with West Geauga converting the two emergency levies to a single substitute levy, but he wished they would have done it years ago. Mr. Walder countered that just last year the Budget Commission suspended one of West Geauga’s emergency levies because it didn’t demonstrate that it needed the money. Observer Note: See the February 28, 2024 Budget Commission Observer Report for details. He added “all of a sudden, now we (West Geauga) need it all again.”
Mr. Hitchcock opined that “I think, should this (the West Geauga substitute levy) pass, there would be an even stronger reaction in support of eliminating all real estate taxes, because a forever tax is something that people sometimes find hard to digest.” Observer Note: “Forever tax” means that the term of the levy is continuing: it does not expire. Mr. Walder agreed, and he noted that other measures on the November 4 ballot are seeking to add millage to collection requests, such as Geauga Park District’s renewal and increase levy. Reviewer Note: Unofficial election results indicate that the Geauga Park District renewal and increase levy was approved by voters. See Board of Elections results here.
He expressed the opinion that “I think this is terrible timing for all of that. I think we have gotten in the habit, unfortunately, as government, to go to the taxpayers first rather than last. And by doing that, we are adding fuel to the fire for abolishing all (property) tax, and we're going to end up throwing the baby out with the bath water, if we're not careful.” He added “in the argument, we have lost the point that a lot of the levies that people pay taxes against are voted on by people. So a good, significant portion of the taxes are, in fact, the will of the populace. It's the inside millage and the 20 mill floor that has been the the problem child, and this (property tax abolishment) group… has been able to conflate those two issues into one issue, saying ‘all taxes are evil, even the ones you voted for,’ which, to me, I think is contrary to the will of the people.”
The Budget Commissioners voted to table the annual millage adjustments for bonds and emergency levies.
Discussion: Geauga Public Health Paperwork
Ms. Sinatra stated that additional paperwork has been received from Geauga Public Health (GPH). Observer Note: GPH requested numerous fund balance adjustments that were tabled at the September 29, 2025 Budget Commission Meeting. She said that GPH had “a misunderstanding between a fund balance adjustment and cash transfer” that resulted in money not being properly appropriated in the correct fund. Ms. Sinatra said GPH has the right supplemental appropriations paperwork, but she needs GPH Board approval to act on them. Once this is done, they can then do the fund balance transfers and then finally the cash transfers that are needed. She said GPH Finance Director Katie Taylor is aware that Board approval is needed on the supplementals and indicated that Ms. Taylor is hoping to schedule a Special GPH Board Meeting to get this taken care of.
Public Comment:
This observer asked a clarifying question regarding the entities requiring millage adjustment; the answer is reflected in the content of this report above.
This observer also asked what the statute of limitations was for Geauga Park District to appeal the Budget Commission’s decision to uphold its reduction of Geauga Park District’s 2022 revenue. Observer Note: See the LWVG Observer Report on the September 29, 2025 Budget Commission Meeting for more information. Ms. Rine said that the appeal time frame has already passed. This observer noted that this matter did not come up during the last Geauga Park District Board Meeting on October 20, 2025, though it is possible that it was discussed during Executive Session. Mr. Flaiz stated “based upon what's discussed at the park board meetings, I'm not certain how they can be a functioning political subdivision unless they're having behind the scenes meetings or serial meetings. I mean, they conduct virtually no business in public.”
This observer requested a copy of the revenue certificates from the meeting, which were received via email on November 4, 2025.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:34 am.
Next Meeting: The next Budget Commission meeting will be a Regular Meeting on Monday, November 17, 2025 at 10:00 am in the Auditor's Conference Room, 215 Main Street, Chardon, Ohio. Virtual attendance for all Budget Commission meetings is available via Microsoft Teams by emailing an invitation request to Ms. McMahan at PMcMahan@geauga.oh.gov.
Observer: Sarah McGlone
Editor: Gail Roussey
Reviewer: Carol Benton
Submitted: November 4, 2025
The League of Women Voters of Geauga is a 501(c)(3) nonpartisan political organization that encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy. They do not support or oppose individual candidates or parties. Learn more about the LWVG at www.lwvgeauga.org.