10th District Court of Appeals Rules that GPD Had the Right to Resubmit 2022 Budget
Geauga Park District Board Regular Meeting – December 15, 2025
Meeting Details: The Geauga Park District (GPD) Board met on Monday, December 15, 2025, at 8:30 am at Big Creek Park Meyer Center, 9160 Robinson Rd, Chardon, OH 44024. This meeting was in-person only with no virtual attendance option. This observer makes a request to GPD Executive Director John Oros (joros@geaugaparkdistrict.org) for the Board packet in advance of the meeting in order to better understand the substance of the matters on the Agenda.
Public Comment Policy: The Park District Board does not have a formal policy and in practice never permits public comment.
Board Attendance: Commissioners Howard Bates, Ray Guarino, John Ralph and Sally LaMarch. Commissioner Frank Stein was absent.
Staff Attendance: John Oros, Executive Director; Dawn Sweeney, Fiscal Officer; Jessica Alpers, Administrative Assistant; and Matt McCue, Deputy Director. Also in attendance were Lucas Beamer, IT Manager; Sandy Ward, Marketing Director; Holly Sauder, Special Events Coordinator; Mike Rose, Park Ranger/Sergeant, Michael Thies, Ranger, and Attorney Todd Hicks from the law firm of Thrasher, Dinsmore & Dolan.
Public Attendance: Members of Protect Geauga Parks; Kate Jacobs, Chief Compliance Officer, Geauga County Auditor’s Office; a reporter from the Geauga Maple Leaf, and LWVG Observers Mary Heintzelman and Gail Roussey were present.
Pledge of Allegiance: Recited.
Approval of Agenda/Addendum Items: There were no items added to the Agenda. The Agenda was approved.
Minutes: Minutes from the November 17, 2025 meeting were approved without question or comment and are posted online here.
Financial Report: Dawn Sweeney, Fiscal Officer, verbally reported these individual fund balances as of November 30, 2025:
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Beginning balance as of 11/01/25 in the General Fund: $4,693,320
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Ending balance as of 11/31/25 in the General Fund: $4,358,593
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Beginning balance as of 11/01/25 in the Land Improvement Fund: $3,197,505
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Ending balance as of 11/31/25 in the Land Improvement Fund: $3,141,932
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All Funds beginning balance on 11/1/25: $7,890,825
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All Funds ending balance on 11/31/25: $7,500,525
There were no questions and no discussion.
Presentation of Payment Report for October 2025.
Observer Note: There is no approval or motion regarding the payment report as the payments have already occurred.
Old Business
A Planning Update was offered by Deputy Director Matt McCue as follows:
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The planned projects have all been completed except for Tupelo Pond and Beartown Lakes. They are still working on those projects. There were no questions.
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Mr. Oros thanked the snow removal staff for keeping up with the snow removal of the parking lots, sled hills and sidewalks.
New Business
The following were approved unanimously:
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Resolution 20-2025/2026 Real Estate Tax Transfer - This resolution allows GPD to "request advances of real estate taxes collected on the district's behalf and deposited into the General Fund as set forth on the following dates provided by the Geauga County Auditors Office:”
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January 30, 2026
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February 18, 2026
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July 1, 2026
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July 15, 2026
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Appointment of Legal Counsel and Budget Appropriation for Land Holdings Review - This review in 2026 will consist of review of purchases deeds, leases, easements, covenants, agreements and other land holding documents. Attorney Mark O’Brien will be appointed to conduct a review of land holding documents and for an amount not to exceed $40,000.00 in 2026.
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Resolution 21-2025/2026 Final Budget Appropriations - Adoption of the 2026 Final Budget Appropriations. The format conforms with the “legal level of budgetary control” according to the Ohio Revised Codes 5705.38{C} that requires "appropriation measures shall be classified as set forth separately in the amounts appropriated for each office, department and division and within each, the amount appropriated for personal services.” This budget conforms with state statute in that the appropriations resolution is presented by Fund, Department, Personal Services (Salaries and Benefits} and all other non-personal services expenditures.
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Surplus Property - A Boss snow plow blade was disposed of and sent to auction. A 2015 Ford transit van was used as a trade in.
Todd Hicks, Legal Counsel, presented the Tenth District Court of Appeals’ decision regarding the Park District’s appeal of the Budget Commission’s reduction of GPD’s 2022 budget by $1.9 million. As he stated, this decision affirmed the decision of the Ohio Board of Tax Appeals on this matter, which was that the Park District may resubmit its 2022 budget to the Budget Commission (and possibly get the $1.9 million returned). Observer Note: To date, GPD has not resubmitted the 2022 budget.
There were no questions or comments.
Reviewer Note: See the LWV Geauga Observer Report on the September 29, 2025 Budget Commission Meeting for background information on this matter, including links to the court decisions mentioned in this report. At this Budget Commission meeting, a Budget Hearing was conducted on the 2022 Park District budget. The Park District was invited to attend this hearing, but no one from GPD was present. The Budget Commission upheld its decision to reduce the GPD budget by $1.9 million. It was stated at the November 3, 2025 Budget Commission Meeting that the statute of limitations for the Park District to appeal the Budget Commission’s decision had expired.
Commissioner’s Time - There was a presentation by Holly Sauder, Special Events Coordinator for Geauga Park District. Ms. Sauder gave a powerpoint presentation outlining the past and future events held at various parks. Observer Note: More information on Park District events is available here.
Mr. Oros spoke of the success of the controlled hunt for white tail deer that took place during hunting season at various parks.
Mr. Oros said that the Fox 8 show “Kickin it with Kenny” appeared at the West Woods Nature Center and highlighted the activities and programs that the center has to offer.
Executive Session - Mr. Oros announced an Executive Session at 9:00 am regarding compensation and employment of public employees and potential land acquisition.
Return from Executive Session at 9:33 am with action on the employment issue. They proposed a 3% wage increase in 2026 for eligible employees that was unanimously approved. There was no action on the potential land acquisition.
Public Comment - Per Geauga Park District practice, no public comment was permitted.
Meeting Adjourned at 9:34 am
Reviewer Comment: Without public discussion by the Board of Agenda items or the opportunity for members of the public to comment and ask questions, the ability of the public to fully understand the business of the Geauga Park District and its use of Geauga County taxpayer funding is hindered.
Next meeting – Monday, January 20, 2026 at 8:30 am.
See the GPD Website for Additional Information and Minutes.
Observer: Mary Heintzelman
Editor: Gail Roussey
Reviewer: Sarah McGlone
Date Submitted: 12/30/2025
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