Budget Commission Certifies 2025-2026 Fiscal Year End
Balances for Berkshire and Chardon Schools
Budget Commission Meeting – July 6, 2026
Meeting Details: The Geauga County Budget Commission met in Regular Session on Monday, July 6, 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 Auditor Jennifer Hess, Auditor’s Office Chief Compliance Officer &
Administrator Kate Jacob (virtual), and Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Kristen Rine (virtual).
County Staff: Geauga County 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: No Minutes were presented for approval. 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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Berkshire Local School District - Amendment #9. 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. $26,215,627.11 in the general fund, $4,577,673.78 in special revenue funds, $1,654,189.22 in debt service funds, $760,796.14 in capital project funds, $1,049,624.70 in enterprise funds, $579,140.34 in internal service funds, and $215,998.79 in fiduciary funds for a total of $35,053,050.08.
Berkshire’s amendment certified the updated fund totals for the end of the 2025-2026 fiscal year. The Budget Commission also acknowledged receipt of Berkshire’s final 2025-2026 appropriations.
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Chardon Local School District - Amendment #8. Final Amendment for Fiscal Year 2025-2026. $57,984,694.87 in the general fund, $6,542,772.69 in special revenue funds, $451,477.43 in debt service funds, $6,668,227.41 in capital project funds, $9,275,200.22 in internal service funds, and $115,642.98 in fiduciary funds for a total of $81,038,015.60.
Chardon Schools’ amendment certified the updated fund totals for the end of the 2025-2026 fiscal year.
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Munson Township - Amendment #3. $1,705,301.53 in the general fund, $4,575,849.53 in special revenue funds, and $2,100.00 in special assessment funds for a total of $6,283,251.06.
Munson’s amendment certified an increase in special revenue funds.
Other Business
Ms. Hess stated that 2027 budget submissions have been received from the following entities: Burton Village, South Russell Village, Bainbridge Township, Troy Township, Russell Citizens Park, Geauga Public Library, and Burton Library. They are expecting a total of 33 submissions by the July 20 deadline. Mr. Hitchcock requested to receive the submissions as they are ready after review by the Auditor’s Office staff.
General Discussion
Mr. Hitchcock said he continues to be excited to learn about the fire district data. Mr. Antenucci said that this information is continuing to trickle in. Observer Note: Updating the fire district map was originally discussed at the May 4, 2026 Budget Commission meeting.
Public Comment:
This Observer asked if the Budget Commission had received anything from Kenston or Cardinal Schools regarding their fiscal year-end numbers. Ms. Hess said no. This Observer followed up to ask if this was a requirement by June 30. Mr. Antenucci responded, “That's what we believe. Yes.” This Observer also requested a copy of all materials from this meeting, which were received via email on July 6, 2026. Finally, this Observer confirmed that the next Budget Commission meeting was July 20.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:11 am.
Next Meeting: The next Budget Commission Meeting will be a Regular Meeting on Monday, July 20, 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: Rooney Moy
Reviewer: Carol Benton
Submitted: July 10, 2026
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