Meeting Details: The Geauga County Budget Commission met in Special Session on Wednesday, January 18, 2023 at 9:30 a.m. in the Auditor’s Conference Room at 215 Main Street, Chardon, Ohio. This meeting was in person with a virtual option via MS Teams.
Meeting Attendance: Auditor Chuck Walder, Prosecutor Jim Flaiz and Treasurer Chris Hitchcock
Staff Attendance: Chief Deputy Auditor Ron Leyde, Deputy Auditors Tammy Most and Kristen Sinatra, ADP Chief Deputy Administrator Frank Antenucci, Fiscal Office Manager Pam McMahan
County/School/Township/Village Representatives: none
Minutes: Minutes from the Regular Meeting on 12/19/2022, the Emergency Meeting on 12/22/2022, and the Special Meeting on 12/29/2022 were all approved
Revenue Certification Requests:
The following Revenue Certifications were approved:
-
Geauga Public Library- Amendment # 1. $13,136,257.61 in the general fund, $2,047,152.06 in debt service funds, and $12,868,637.11 in capital project funds for a total of $28,052,046.78.
DISCUSSION: It was noted that the library is using reserve funds. Auditor Walder will talk with the library to make sure that they are doing this correctly and using the right ORC.
-
City of Chardon- Amendment # 1. $11,694,290.96 in the general fund, $8,917,856.14 in special revenue funds, $373,435.34 in debt service funds, $4,746,223.27 in capital project funds, $6,513,931.66 in enterprise funds, $8,054.18 in internal service funds, and $183,413.24 in fiduciary funds for a total of $32,437,204.79.
General Discussion:
-
Treasurer Hitchcock presented a chart detailing county cash balances based on 2021 numbers. In total, Geauga County had a cash balance of $45,121,880; of this, $14,256,207 went to general funds, $10,240,909 to road maintenance and repair, $10,501,398 to fire protection services, $8,143,926 to police protection services, $562,400 to ambulance services, and $1,417,040 to other services. The 32,299 households of Geauga County contributed an average of $1,397 per household to the county cash balances. Additionally, the Geauga Public Library had a cash balance total of $13,012,351 (average household contribution of $402.87), and the Geauga Park District had a cash balance total of $8,173,217 (average household contribution of $253.05). Prosecutor Flaiz noted that Geauga County has the third highest cash balances in the state of Ohio. All agreed that Geauga County is fortunate to be extremely well funded.
-
It was noted that the school budget review meeting has been set for 2/22/23 at 10:00am at the Geauga County Office Building.
More Information and Posted Minutes: Available on Auditor website
Next Meeting: February 6, 2023 at 10:00 am
Name of Observers: Sarah McGlone
Editor: Shelly Lewis
Name of Reviewer: Gail Roussey
Submitted 1/18/2023
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.