Budget Commission Approves Geauga Park District’s Permanent Appropriations, Numerous Questions Regarding GPD Practices Raised during Public Comment
Budget Commission Meeting – June 29, 2026
Meeting Details: The Geauga County Budget Commission met in Special Session on Monday, June 29, 2026 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: Treasurer Chris Hitchcock and ADP (Automatic Data Processing) Chief Deputy Administrator Frank Antenucci (substituting for Auditor Chuck Walder). Prosecutor Jim Flaiz was absent.
Staff Attendance: Deputy Auditors Tina Kloski and Jennifer Hess, Auditor’s Office Chief Operations Officer Pam McMahan, and Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Kristen Rine (virtual).
County Staff: Geauga County Budget and Finance Manager Adrian Gorton.
Geauga Park District Staff: Executive Director John Oros, Director of Finance Ron Leyde, and HR Manager Christine Cycyk all attended virtually.
Members of the Public: Protect Geauga Parks member John Augustine, four other unidentified Protect Geauga Parks members, and Geauga Maple Leaf reporter Allison Wilson all attended in person. Protect Geauga Parks President Shelley Chernin, Geauga County Mental Health and Recovery Services Board Member Kathy Johnson, Geauga Times Courier reporter Anastasia Nicholas, and this LWV Geauga Observer all attended virtually.
The meeting was called to order at 10:00 am.
Minutes: Minutes from the June 1, 2026 and June 15, 2026 Budget Commission meetings were both approved. Budget Commission Minutes can be found here when posted.
Regular Business:
The following Revenue Certificates were approved:
Reviewer Note: An explanation of the different types of funds in revenue certifications can be found
here.
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West Geauga Local School District - Amendment #4. Final Amendment for Fiscal Year 2025-2026. Observer Note: Schools operate on a July-June fiscal year, whereas most County entities operate on the January-December calendar year. $50,681,733.71 in the general fund, $3,759,007.58 in special revenue funds, $20,688,823.05 in capital project funds, $1,516,702.27 in enterprise funds, $284,700.89 in internal service funds, and $4,483.30 in fiduciary funds for a total of $76,935,450.74.
West Geauga’s amendment certified the updated fund totals for the end of the 2025-2026 fiscal year. The Budget Commission also acknowledged receipt of West Geauga’s final 2025-2026 appropriations.
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South Russell Village - Amendment #3. $2,153,817.44 in the general fund, $8,359,389.95 in special revenue funds, $2,205,388.26 in capital project funds, and $293,824.64 in fiduciary funds, for a total of $13,012,420.29.
South Russell’s amendment certified an increase in special revenue funds and a decrease in capital project funds.
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Burton Village
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Amendment #1 Corrected. $1,899,963.73 in the general fund, $2,099,666.88 in special revenue funds, $623,869.32 in capital project funds, $51,406.03 in special assessment funds, $4,210,744.03 in enterprise funds, and $167,377.35 in fiduciary funds for a total of $9,053,027.34.
Burton Village’s previously approved Amendment #1 was corrected because tax estimates were used to create it, not actual values. This resulted in a special revenue funds increase of $2,525 compared to the original amendment amount. Observer Note: See the January 8, 2026 Budget Commission LWVG Observer Report for the original approval of Amendment #1.
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Amendment #2. $1,899,963.73 in the general fund, $2,149,666.88 in special revenue funds, $623,869.32 in capital project funds, $51,406.03 in special assessment funds, $4,210,744.03 in enterprise funds, and $167,377.35 in fiduciary funds for a total of $9,103,027.34.
Burton Village’s Amendment #2 certified an increase in special revenue funds.
The following Revenue Certificate was rejected:
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Russell Township - Amendment #2. The precise revenue numbers were not provided. This amendment was previously tabled at two previous Budget Commission meetings on June 1 and June 15. Mr. Antenucci reminded all that this amendment requested moving money into Russell’s reserve funds. He stated “when the 2026 activity in these funds is reviewed as a whole, the record, as provided by Russell Township, does not establish the reserve study compliance connected to the statutory requirements within the revised code in terms of the supplementals as it applies to fund 4908, which is the road vehicles, and 4910, which is the fire vehicles.” He noted that this means that two of the three transfers in the requested amendment “fail,” and therefore he expressed the opinion that the Budget Commission should “... vote no on this (and) send this back to Russell Township.” Mr. Antenucci made a motion to do this, and the motion carried. It was suggested that the Prosecutor’s Office should review the amendment as well.
A Geauga Trumbull Solid Waste Supplemental Appropriation in the amount of $17,500, including $12,000 for legal fees and $5,500 for grant special expenses, was accepted by the Budget Commission.
Mr. Antenucci asked if there was any public comment regarding the amendments and supplemental appropriation covered so far. No public comment was offered.
Other Business
Observer Note: This item was tabled at the June 15 Budget Commission meeting.
Mr. Antenucci provided a summary of what has happened with GPD’s permanent appropriations
thus far: “on about December 5, there was some sort of a final budget appropriations done. However, on December 15, we're seeing this backdated, that was the final appropriations, but then on December 22, we're seeing that the Budget Commission received what was called temporary appropriations. (On) June 15, this was sort of recast as final permanent appropriations, and then we've got this attestation from Ron Leyde, the fiscal director … that the December action was actually the permanent one. So we've got these conflicting terminologies used for the various terms.” Mr. Antenucci then asked GPD Executive Director John Oros to provide an overview on what has transpired from his perspective. Observer Note: For more information, please see the LWVG Observer Reports for the December 15, 2025 GPD Board Meeting and the June 15, 2026 GPD Board Meeting.
Mr. Oros said that the departure of former GPD Fiscal Officer Dawn Sweeney occurred unexpectedly due to a health crisis and he wished her well. He noted that the December communication occurred between Ms. Sweeney and Budget Commission staff prior to her departure. Mr. Oros said that Ms. Sweeney told him that GPD’s final appropriations were entered into UAN (Uniform Accounting Network) in January, and then in June the GPH Board passed a resolution to attest those numbers being the final appropriations. He noted that current GPH Finance Director Ron Leyde also attested to this.
Mr. Antenucci asked Mr. Oros when he believed the GPD board approved the final appropriations. Mr. Oros said December 15, 2025.
Mr. Antenucci asked Mr. Leyde for an overview of his attestation regarding the permanent appropriations and noted that the attestation was not dated. Mr. Oros responded that the date of Mr. Leyde’s attestation was immediately following the June 15 GPD board meeting. Mr. Leyde added that this attestation was done at the request of the Budget Commission and was prepared by GPD legal staff. Mr. Antenucci asked “how does an individual attest to a time frame, when they were not present at that time frame?” Observer Note: Mr. Leyde was not employed by GPD in December 2025. He was introduced as the new GPD Finance Director at the March 2026 GPD Board meeting. Mr. Oros responded that “We affirmed that those were the appropriation numbers that former Fiscal Officer Dawn Sweeney said in conjunction with the board at their December meeting.”
Mr. Antenucci asked if Mr. Oros or Mr. Leyde had anything else to add, noting that he wanted “... to make sure the Budget Commission performs its responsibilities in a way that allows you to do what you need to do, but then at the same time you don't have issues with the state audit later on, which you may or may not have based on the record. I don't know how that works, that'll be, you know, your issue, not the Budget Commission’s.” Mr. Oros reiterated that “... we did attest that the actions the board took in December, that were entered into UAN, match the figures we're using for appropriations, permanent appropriations.”
The Budget Commission then voted to approve GPD’s permanent appropriations effective on the current date (June 29, 2026). Mr. Hitchcock cautioned Mr. Oros: “you understand Ron (Mr. Leyde) was not an employee when this appropriation was approved by your board, but now he is attesting that those were the facts some many months later. That could be an issue going forward, that's why we are being as careful as possible in approving this.”
The floor was then opened to public comment. The following individuals spoke:
Ms. Chernin expressed gratitude to the Budget Commission for having the opportunity to comment publicly and asked Mr. Oros to convey the substance of her comments to the GPD board. She noted that the GPD board has not allowed public comment at its meetings since 2016. She said: “Ever since I started attending park district board meetings, I've sensed that the board and the park district do not welcome or value public input. As a member of the public, this is disturbing behavior from a government agency that we pay for, and that's supposed to work for us.” Ms. Chernin observed that many other public entities welcome input from the public and asked: “Why is the park district different from other public entities? Why can't the park district tolerate disagreement? Why doesn't the park district want the public to be involved in decision making? Why won't the park district engage in open conversation with citizens about our parks? Aren't we the owners of the park district? Don't you work for us? Why are we pushed aside?” She indicated that she had no answers for these questions, “... other than the elephant who's always in the room at park board meetings, who's Judge Grendell. If the judge doesn't want public comment, then there will be no public comment.”
Ms. Chernin stated that: “I've been upset for many years that the park district regularly does business with one of its commissioners, who simply abstains when contracts are awarded to his business. He may well be a wonderful public servant who gives the park district great deals. I don't know, but it looks bad, both under the state of Ohio ethics laws and the park district's own bylaws, which state that commissioners shall strive to avoid even the slightest appearance of impropriety. Maybe the park district doesn't realize it, because they don't allow public comment, but many members of the public are very, very concerned about this ongoing appearance of impropriety.” Observer Note: This is likely a reference to GPD Commissioner Howard Bates. Mr. Bates owns Arms Trucking, which has been awarded contracts with GPD. See the February 20, 2024 GPD Observer Report for more information.
Ms. Chernin also expressed “distress” about how GPD board meetings are conducted, noting that they are run by the Executive Director, not the Board President. She indicated that “the commissioners rarely ask questions or make comments, rarely even speak beyond saying ‘so moved’ and ‘second.’ There is no discussion among the commissioners of policy matters.” She went on to say: “I can't help but imagine that Mr. Oros speaks to each commissioner prior to the meeting to answer questions about the agenda. If that's not happening, then we have a board of commissioners who simply say ‘yes’ to whatever is presented to them, no questions asked. Either way, this is not the way public entities are supposed to operate, and it's extremely disturbing.”
Ms. Nicholas posed the following inquiry: “As I understand it, Mr. Leyde was dropped from the Auditor due to alcohol, and GPD hired him. The alcohol was mentioned in connection with an error in the state audit; they were claimed to be connected somehow. So, could you explain that to me? And I'm also wondering, what was his salary at the Auditor versus what is his new salary at the park?” Observer Note: Mr. Leyde is the former Chief Deputy Auditor of Geauga County. More information about the state audit issue and Mr. Leyde’s dismissal is available in this Cleveland.com article.
Mr. Antenucci said he didn’t recall Mr. Leyde’s salary when he worked for the Auditor and said this information and Mr. Leyde’s disciplinary record could be asked for in a public records request.
Ms. Nicholas said her question was aimed more at the park district and asked “Why pick up this employee after those issues? So, I was hoping Mr. Oros would answer.” Mr. Oros responded “if you'd like to do a public records request, we'd be happy to comply.” Ms. Nicholas said “I just don't know if a public records request would answer the specific, the meat of my question.” Mr. Antenucci replied: “Well, I understand that, but unfortunately, as government agencies, we're responsible to produce records, and that's what the Auditor's Office is willing to do. In terms of the park district, I don't know what to tell you there.”
Observer Note: Ms. Nicholas’ article on this matter is available here, though it may be behind a paywall for some users.
Mr. Augustine expressed agreement with Ms. Chernin’s earlier comments. He noted that “none of the (GPD) board members, our commissioners, has had … a past interest in natural areas, biodiversities, and parks.” He indicated that this inexperience may be a factor in the lack of public comment at GPD board meetings because “maybe they don't want questions asked because they may not be able to respond to them.”
Mr. Augustine said that the primary purpose of GPD is to preserve disappearing land according to the legislation enabling the park district’s existence in the early 1900s. He said “I’m not sure that protecting land is that big a priority” to GPD, and he provided several examples where he felt that GPD did not prioritize land preservation, including clear cutting and logging in the parks.
Observer Note: This item was tabled at the June 15 Budget Commission meeting.
Next the Budget Commission considered GPD’s Amendment #2, which was described as an increase in the land improvement fund for land acquisitions in the amount of $2,050,000. It was noted that the previous balance in this fund was $0 and that the $2,050,000 came from a transfer from the general fund. Mr. Oros explained that GPD is looking to purchase two parcels of land: one in Newbury (185 acres) and another in both Newbury and Burton Townships (25 acres).
Mr. Hitchcock wondered whether this land was currently providing property tax revenue at a discounted rate due to CAUV (Current Agricultural Use Value) program and noted that it would no longer produce property tax revenue at all if it became park land. Mr. Oros was uncertain about the current property tax status of the land. Mr. Hitchcock said that it would be a good idea to ask the park district to provide information on the current property taxes provided by lands it is interested in acquiring going forward. He noted that the impact of losing CAUV tax revenue would be less because “that is a nominal tax,” but he said that there could be “considerably more tax impact” if residential or commercial land is converted to park land.
The Budget Commission voted to approve the GPD Amendment. The new revenue certificate total was $11,360,452.99 in the general fund and $5,592,601.29 in capital project funds for a total of $16,953,053.58. The Budget Commission also acknowledged the appropriation transfer of the $2,050,000 from the general fund to the capital projects land improvement fund for land acquisitions.
The Budget Commission voted to add Geauga Public Health to the August 18 Budget Hearing schedule at 1:15 pm. The full Budget Hearing Schedule is now as follows:
Monday, August 17, 2026
9:00 am
Thompson Township & Thompson Park
Bainbridge Township
Troy Township
Chardon Township
Burton Township
Montville Township
10:00 am
Claridon Township
Parkman Township
Chester Township
Hambden Township
Munson Township
West Geauga Recreation District
Lunch at approximately 12:15 pm
1:15 pm
Newbury Township
Huntsburg Township
Middlefield Township
Auburn Township
Geauga Trumbull Solid Waste
Geauga County
Tuesday, August 18, 2026
9:00 am
Russell Park 1545
Chester Park
Russell Citizens Park
Geauga Library
City of Chardon
Burton Village
Burton Library
9:45 am
Middlefield Village & East Geauga Fire
South Russell Village
Geauga Park District
Russell Township
Lunch at approximately 12:15 pm
1:15 pm Geauga Public Health
All 2027 Budget Hearings will take place in the Auditor’s Appraisal Conference Room.
Mr. Antenucci said that an email was received on June 16 from Burton Township Fiscal Officer Katie O'Neill asking for guidance on reserve funds. He said he replied and provided a factual understanding of reserve funds. He said some of her questions were more legal in nature so he directed her to the township’s Assistant Prosecuting Attorney.
Ms. Kloski said that Berkshire and Chardon Schools did submit their final revenue certificates for fiscal year 2025-2026 but there was not enough time to prepare them for this meeting. They will be ready for consideration at the next Budget Commission meeting. Ms. Kloski asked if the Budget Commission had any guidance on how the drop in revenue received by school districts due to House Bill 186 should be reflected in the submissions. Mr. Antenucci said that he didn’t think anything needs to be done about this “... because the state is out there saying from their rainy day fund, or whatever that fund is, that they're going to make these school districts whole…. I'm going to take them at their word that they're going to make the school districts whole, in which case we've got the local change in funding here, which benefits some people, but then the state is going to fill that void.” Reviewer Note: House Bill 186 contains a provision to make school districts whole. See Ohio House of Representatives summary here. Mr. Hitchcock suggested that they should prepare for “the worst case scenario” just in case the state does not make the school districts whole, and he asked the staff to prepare those numbers for a future Budget Commission meeting.
Mr. Antenucci noted for the record that the end of fiscal year numbers have been received on time from West Geauga, Berkshire, and Chardon Schools. It was noted that the deadline for submission was the following day, June 30.
Ms. Kloski stated that a township had asked what figure they should be using as a percentage for nonbusiness and owner occupancy credits in their budget since those credits have changed a bit. Mr. Antenucci wasn’t certain what figure to provide. Mr. Hitchcock said: “All I can tell you is tax bills have been submitted to our delivery vendor.” He noted that they should be delivered within 10 days and may already be available on the web.
The Budget Commission staff will provide 2027 budget submissions to the Budget Commissioners on a weekly basis as they are received.
Ms. Hess said that the information needed to update the fire district map originally discussed at the May 4, 2026 Budget Commission meeting continues to trickle in from the fire districts. Mr. Hitchcock said “it will not be surprising if they trickle in over the next year. They will want to provide that information as slowly as possible, but nevertheless it's important to collect that information, because there's considerable taxpayer dollars at work.”
Public Comment:
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This Observer requested a copy of all materials from this meeting, which were received via email on June 29, 2026. The Observer also requested to receive a copy of all meeting agendas in advance via email, as she had somehow fallen off the distribution list.
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Geauga County Budget and Finance Manager Adrian Gorton informed the Budget Commission that the County’s 2027 budget presentation would be the next day, July 1, at 10:00 am, and he invited all to attend. He also provided the Budget Commissioners with advanced copies of the presentation and noted that the presentation would be recorded for later viewing.
Mr. Gorton also expressed appreciation for the letter the Budget Commissioners sent to the County Commissioners. Observer Note: The text of this letter is available in the June 15 Budget Commission LWVG Observer Report. He said that County Administrator Amy Bevan would be reaching out with a letter to set up an advance meeting of the Budget Commission and the County Commissioners before the County’s August 17 Budget Hearing. He said they were likely targeting August 5 at the date of the advance meeting “in order to review the budget and see if there are any questions that we can address ahead of the August 17 meeting…. If there are any modifications to the budget requests, we're concerned about having enough time to do that between August 17 and the end of the month, so if we can knock out some questions or come up with a time that works for both commissions, we would like to be able to do that.”
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Geauga Maple Leaf reporter Allison Wilson asked for an overview of House Bill 186. Mr. Antenucci responded that this state law reduces the local tax collection of school districts due to owner occupied and nonbusiness property tax credits; however, the state has said it will backfill the lost tax revenue to make school districts whole. Mr. Hitchcock said that this occurred in the middle of tax collection, which caused a three week delay in the collection process.
The meeting was adjourned at 11:00 am.
Next Meeting: The next Budget Commission Meeting will be a Regular Meeting on Monday, July 6, 2026 at 10:00 am in the Auditor's Conference Room, 215 Main Street, Chardon. Virtual attendance for 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: July 4, 2026
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