Budget Commission Special Meeting – April 17, 2023
Meeting Details: The Geauga County Budget Commission met in Special Session on Monday, April 17, 2023 at 10:00 am in Suites A333-334 of the Geauga County Office Building at 12611 Ravenwood Drive, Chardon, Ohio. This meeting was in person with a virtual option via MS Teams.
Public Comment Policy: no written policy, but in practice public comment is solicited near the end of the meeting. Both in-person and virtual participants are able to comment.
Meeting Attendance: Prosecutor Jim Flaiz, Auditor Chuck Walder, and Treasurer Chris Hitchcock.
Staff Attendance: Chief Deputy Auditor Ron Leyde, Deputy Auditors Tammy Most and Kristen Sinatra, Fiscal Office Manager Pam McMahan, and Budget Coordinator Paul Pestello.
County/School/Township/Village Representatives:
-
Geauga County Commissioners Budget and Finance Manager Adrian Gorton
-
Russell 1545 Park District Commissioner Dennis Suhay
-
Russell 1545 Park District Fiscal Officer Susan Skorvan
-
Geauga Public Health Administrator Adam Litke
-
Department on Aging Director Jessica Boalt
-
Department on Aging Fiscal Officer Jessica Kaluga
-
County Engineer Joe Cattell
-
County Engineer’s Office HR & Fiscal Officer Katie Taylor
-
Highway Superintendent Rick Weikart
-
Department of Mental Health Executive Director Christine Lakomiak
-
Department of Mental Health Finance Manager Jim Mausser
-
County Board of Developmental Disabilities Superintendent Don Rice
-
County Board of Developmental Disabilities Fiscal Coordinator Rean Davis
-
County Board of Developmental Disabilities Director of Business Operations Dave Carlson
-
County Job and Family Services Director Craig Swenson
-
County Job and Family Services Financial Administrator Alyssa Parnaby
Minutes: Minutes from the Regular Meeting on 4/3/23 were approved.
Russell 1545 Park District Re-Hearing of 2021 Budget
As stated at the Budget Commission meeting on March 13, in January the Ohio Board of Tax Appeals (BTA) ordered the Budget Commission to conduct a re-hearing of the 2021 Russell 1545 Park District budget from 2021. Auditor Walder provided a more detailed background on what led to the re-hearing. He explained:
-
At the original 2021 Budget Hearings in August 2020, the Russell 1545 Park District reported general fund expenses exceeding revenue, which caused the Budget Commission to deny approval of their budget.
-
After the 2021 Budget Hearings, the Russell 1545 Park District twice submitted revised budgets that did not fully fix their over-appropriated state, so the Budget Commission continued to deny budget approval.
-
In September 2020, the Russell 1545 Park District appealed the Budget Commission’s decision to the Ohio BTA.
-
In January 2023, the Ohio BTA directed the Budget Commission to re-hear the 2021 Russell 1545 Park District budget due to the park district having additional revenue created by a park property being declared tax-exempt. This tax exemption resulted in the Russell 1545 Park District being refunded $16,848, which in turn caused their appropriations to no longer exceed revenue.
Mr. Walder stated that budget submissions must include all lawfully required items by the budget submission deadline date in July of each year; required budget items include at least the two prior years of revenue and expenses and all anticipated revenue sources. The Russell 1545 Park District did not provide the Budget Commission with all required budget items for their 2021 budget: namely, they did not include the anticipated revenue from the tax-exempt land. However, Mr. Walder stated that he was in favor of approving the amended 2021 Russell 1545 Park District budget since expenses no longer exceeded revenue. He did caution that the Budget Commission cannot continue to excuse requirements of law to approve budgets after the fact and reiterated that , once submitted, budgets cannot be changed by submitting entities going forward.
APPROVED - The Budget Commission voted in favor of approving the 2021 Russell 1545 Park District budget. The approved budget listed $30,227.31 in the general fund and $47,107.38 in special revenue funds for a total of $77,334.69. The 2021 Russell 1545 Park District budget had an estimated general fund beginning cash balance of $13,379.31 on 1/1/2021. The 2021 general fund revenue was estimated at $16,848.00, while general fund expenses were estimated to be $24,110.00, leaving a general fund estimated cash balance of $6,117.31 on 12/31/2021.
2024 Geauga Public Health (GPH) Budget Hearing:
Reviewer Comment: During their March 15 Special Meeting the GPH Board, citing dire financial projections, entered into a cross jurisdictional agreement with Lake County General Health District (LCGHD). GPH presentations to the public and to the Health District Advisory Council, their statutory advisory body, never included projected financial statements illustrating the impact of the new arrangement.
This April 5th budget submission ignores the impact of the agreement passed 21 days earlier.
Under ORC 3709.28 the GPH Board was required to adopt an itemized appropriation measure for the 2024 fiscal year on or before April 1, 2023. We can find no reference to such action in published GPH minutes or League Observer Reports. At publication, we have been unable to confirm the timing of this board action with GPH Administrator Adam Litke.
Mr. Walder commented that the GPH budget is “a snapshot in time” and noted that it does not reflect the March 15 agreement with LCGHD. He said that Geauga Public Health’s reserves look healthy and have grown. GPH Administrator Adam Litke noted that at the March 15 Health District Advisory Council meeting there was some discussion of the townships providing additional money to GPH. Auditor Walder opined that no additional money from the townships or additional levies beyond the current 0.20 Mills appear to be needed. Mr. Litke stated that it is his understanding that a replacement levy will be put forward once the current levy expires later this year.
APPROVED: The Budget Commission approved the 2024 GPH budget and certified estimated 2024 resources as follows: $2,869,572.00 in the general fund and $4,230,466.00 in special revenue funds for a total of $7,100,038.00. GPH has an estimated 2024 general fund beginning cash balance of $1,752,864.00 on 1/1/2024. 2024 general fund revenue is estimated at $1,116,708.00, while expenses are estimated to be $1,320,970.46. The 2024 general fund expenses are estimated to exceed revenue by $204,262.46, leaving an estimated general fund cash balance of $1,548,601.54 on 12/31/2024. The estimated 2024 beginning special revenue funds cash balance (summed across all GPH special revenue funds) is estimated to be $2,204,266.00 on 1/1/24. 2024 special revenue funds total revenue is estimated to be $2,026,200.00, while expenses are estimated to be $2,290,574.19. Across all GPH special revenue funds, 2024 expenses are estimated to exceed revenue by $264,374.19, leaving an estimated total special revenue funds cash balance of $1,939,891.81 on 12/31/2024. When the general and special revenue funds end of year cash balances are combined, GPH is estimated to have a total cash balance of $3,488,493.35 on 12/31/24.
Highlights of Levied Departments’ Budget Hearings
-
Department on Aging - Information on the Senior Center Construction Fund was not included in this budget. Auditor Walder requested that this information be included in future budgets. The total cost of the new senior center is uncertain at this time, as the exact build site has not been selected yet.
APPROVED: The Budget Commission approved the 2024 Department on Aging budget and certified estimated 2024 resources as follows: 2024 special revenue (levy) fund estimated beginning cash balance on 1/1/2024 of $1,844,567.50. 2024 revenue is estimated at $3,813,059.00, while expenses are estimated to be $4,078,351.00. 2024 special revenue (levy) fund expenses are estimated to exceed revenue by $265,292.00, leaving an estimated cash balance of $1,579,275.50 on 12/31/2024.
APPROVED: The Budget Commission approved the 2024 Engineer’s Office budget and certified estimated 2024 resources as follows: all Engineer’s Office funds were estimated to start 2024 with a $0 unencumbered cash balance. The 2024 Road and Bridge (levy) fund revenue is estimated at $3,512,272.00, while expenses are estimated to be $3,200,000.00. Road and Bridge (levy) fund revenue is estimated to exceed expenses by $312,272.00, leaving an estimated cash balance of this same amount on 12/31/2024. MUNI Permissive Fund (local government distributions) revenue is estimated at $100,000.00 with estimated expenses of the same amount, leaving an estimated cash balance in the MUNI Permissive Fund of $0.00 on 12/31/2024. Road maintenance MVL (motor vehicle license) fund revenue is estimated at $9,452,900.00, while expenses are estimated to be $8,559,387.00. Road maintenance MVL fund revenue is estimated to exceed expenses by $893,513.00, leaving an estimated cash balance of this same amount on 12/31/2024.
-
Geauga County Mental Health & Recovery Services (GC-MHRS) - Mr. Walder noted that GC-MHRS reduced their levy collection last year, which he felt was a good response to their cash balances creeping up over the several years prior. Mr. Flaiz agreed that giving the money back to the Geauga County taxpayers was the right thing to do in this case. The Budget Commissioners extended a warm welcome to Christine Lakomiak, the new Department of Mental Health Executive Director.
APPROVED: The Budget Commission approved the 2024 GC-MHRS budget and certified estimated 2024 resources as follows: 2024 special revenue (levy) fund estimated beginning cash balance on 1/1/2024 of $2,957,572. 2024 revenue is estimated at $6,586,020, while expenses are estimated to be $6,829,740. The 2024 special revenue (levy) fund expenses are estimated to exceed revenue by $243,720, leaving an estimated cash balance of $2,713,852 on 12/31/2024.
APPROVED: The Budget Commission approved the 2024 Department of Developmental Disabilities budget and certified estimated 2024 resources as follows: 2024 general (levy) fund estimated beginning cash balance on 1/1/2024 of $2,449,471.00. The 2024 revenue is estimated at $15,486,263, while expenses are estimated to be $16,976,000.00. The 2024 general (levy) fund expenses are estimated to exceed revenue by approximately $1.49 million, leaving an estimated cash balance of $959,734.00 on 12/31/2024. The Budget Commission also certified that the reserve fund is estimated to have no revenue or expenses in 2024, leaving it with an estimated cash balance of $5,700,000.00 on 12/31/2024.
-
Geauga County Job and Family Services - Mr. Walder explained that last year, the Budget Commission recommended a reduction in the collection of JFS’ 0.50 Mill levy. This reduction was submitted to the state, but a software glitch reengaged the millage and collected it sometime in January 2023. Members of the Auditor's staff will meet with the Tax Commissioner to figure out how to fix this problem. JFS Director Craig Swenson stated he was concerned about the public’s reaction to this situation, as people may have an unfavorable view of JFS receiving taxpayer money to which it is not entitled. Mr. Walder made clear that this problem was in no way caused by JFS and that there are plans in the works to replace the dated software program. Mr. Walder noted that things are in limbo for now until the Tax Commissioner weighs in.
APPROVED: The Budget Commission approved the 2024 Job and Family Services budget and certified estimated 2024 resources as follows: 2024 special revenue (levy) fund estimated beginning cash balance on 1/1/2024 of $9,380,012. 2024 revenue is estimated at $5,990,000, while expenses are estimated to be $11,275,000. The 2024 special revenue (levy) fund expenses are estimated to exceed revenue by approximately $5.29 million, leaving an estimated cash balance of $4,095,012 on 12/31/2024.
Revenue Certification Requests: the following Revenue Certifications were approved:
-
Berkshire Local Schools - Amendment #6. $22,843,091.95 in the general fund, $2,199,224.30 in special revenue funds, $1,555,937.31 in debt service funds, $3,006,877.18 in capital project funds, $807,959.09 in enterprise funds, $512,368.58 in internal service funds and $164,223.55 in fiduciary funds for a total of $31,089,681.96. Appropriations do not exceed revenue.
-
Thompson Township - Amendment #4. $369,297.69 in the general fund, $1,654,634.27 in special revenue funds, $140.56 in debt service funds, and $1,866.52 in special assessment funds for a total of $2,025,939.04. Appropriations do not exceed revenue.
-
Chester Township - Amendment #3. $1,714,708.06 in the general fund, $11,073,185.87 in special revenue funds, $5,032.00 in capital project funds, and $42,011.99 in special assessment funds for a total of $12,834,937.92. Appropriations do not exceed revenue.
-
Bainbridge Township - Amendment #4. $3,582,291.06 in the general fund, $20,178,141.16 in special revenue funds, $2,517,027.18 in debt service funds, $809,796.35 in capital project funds, $10,798.02 in special assessment funds, and $537.99 in fiduciary funds for a total of $27,098,591.76. Appropriations do not exceed revenue.
-
South Russell Village - Amendment #2. $1,731,401.96 in the general fund, $7,171,205.38 in special revenue funds, $1,980,494.35 in capital project funds, and $266,036.53 in fiduciary funds for a total of $11,149,138.22. Appropriations do not exceed revenue.
Discussion Items:
Auditor Walder introduced Paul Pestello, who is now working part-time for the Auditor’s office in the role of Budget Coordinator. Mr. Pestello was the Treasurer of Kenston Local Schools until January 2023.
Public Comment: There were no public comments.
More Information and Posted Minutes: Available on Auditor website
Next Meeting: May 1, 2023 at 10:00 am in the Auditor’s Conference Room at 215 Main Street, Chardon, Ohio.
Name of Observer: Sarah McGlone
Name of Editor: Anne Ondrey
Name of Reviewer: Shelly Lewis
Submitted 4/18/2023
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.