Budget Commission Regular Meeting – June 5, 2023
Meeting Details: The Geauga County Budget Commission met in Regular Session on Monday, June 5, 2023 at 10:00 am 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 Auditor Kristen Sinatra, Fiscal Office Manager Pam McMahan, and Budget Coordinator Paul Pestello.
County/School/Township/Village Representatives: ADP Chief Deputy Administrator Frank Antenucci.
Minutes: Minutes from the Regular Meeting on 5/15/23 were approved.
Revenue Certification Requests:
The following Revenue Certifications were approved:
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South Russell Village - Amendment #4 - $1,731,401.96 in the general fund, $7,391,205.38 in special revenue funds, $1,722,494.35 in capital project funds, and $266,036.53 in fiduciary funds for a total of $11,111,138.22.
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Geauga Park District (GPD) - Amendment #5 - $10,320,414.45 in the general fund, $794.34 in special revenue funds, and $2,863,851.80 in capital project funds for a total of $13,185,060.59.
The Budget Commissioners noted that this amendment transferred approximately $89,000 from GPD’s capital projects reserve fund to its general fund. As reported in the May 1 Budget Commission Observer Corps Report, the Ohio Attorney General (OAG) issued an opinion stating that 1545 park districts such as GPD are not entitled to have reserve funds. Mr. Walder confirmed that GPD spent money out of the reserve fund in the past, which may be problematic. OBSERVER NOTE: After the meeting, Deputy Auditor Kristen Sinatra informed this observer that the above general fund and total amounts are incorrect due to clerical error. The general fund amount should be $10,409,604.25, and the total should be $13,274,250.39. The certificate will be re-signed with the correct amounts at the next Budget Commission meeting.
Regular Business:
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New Bainbridge Township Fund: Bainbridge Township notified the Budget Commission that they are establishing a new special revenue fund with first responder grant money. There is no money in the fund yet, so the Budget Commission took no action on it. However, Mr. Hitchcock voiced his concern about Bainbridge’s high cash balances. He estimated that Bainbridge had a cash balance of approximately $13.8 million as of 2021 across all their accounts, with the fire fund specifically having a cash balance of $4.2 million. He stated that “seldom do cash balances like this aggregate to such large amounts” and noted that the Bainbridge Fire Department could operate for a year and a half without any further tax revenue.
Mr. Hitchcock stated that Bainbridge is planning to come back to the voters with a fire levy in the fall and questioned whether the Budget Commission should comment on Bainbridge’s need for additional tax revenue.
Mr. Walder opined that the Budget Commission’s role would be to require Bainbridge to demonstrate the need to collect against a levy only once it was approved by the voters. Mr. Walder went on to state that the Budget Commission could advise Bainbridge that it would oppose collection of the levy tax dollars if need is not shown at the Budget Hearings in August.
Mr. Flaiz stated his suspicion - though he admitted he had no evidence to support it- that Bainbridge may be planning to build a second fire station and/or police station on the former Geauga Lake property. He supported directly asking Bainbridge if this is the reason that they are “hoarding” money and surmised that Bainbridge may not be telling current residents about it since the new facilities would not benefit them but would benefit future residents of the Geauga Lake property area. Mr. Walder responded that he has advised Bainbridge to use their excess cash to create reserve funds with specific stated purposes, and he will follow up with them to see where they are in this process.
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Geauga Public Health (GPH): A GPH Board Resolution increasing appropriations in the general fund by $1,148,000 and de-appropriating the same amount in several funds including salaries and hospitalizations was approved.
Mr. Flaiz inquired whether this was to pay back the money improperly collected. Mr. Walder indicated it is to “pay back the money and to pay Lake for the same service.”
Observer Comment: Mr. Flaiz and Mr. Walder are referring to 1) HB110 Audit Findings that indicate GPH was paid approximately $757,912 for inspections that were never provided. The cost to reimburse customers plus interest is expected to approach $1,000,000. See GPH May 24, 2023 Observer Corps Report for details; and 2) adjustments to reflect the budget impact of the cross jurisdictional agreement with Lake County General Health District.
Reviewer Comment: In a follow up conversation with GPH Administrator Adam Litke, LWVG confirmed there are 3 components to this $1.148 million transaction: 1) Savings generated by eliminating staff per the cross jurisdictional agreement (amount not provided), 2) GPH staffing transfers to Lake County General Health District that are now paid as Contractual Services (amount not provided), and $132,713.70 for legal expenses paid to the McDonald Hopkins law firm. A future appropriation for approximately $1,000,000 will be needed to address HB110 refunds. See May 24, 2023 GPH Observer Corps Report.
Mr. Walder stated that he is checking to see whether or not any of these de-appropriated funds are restricted, which would influence how these funds can be transferred. Since this request only de-appropriates the funds without transferring them, the Budget Commissioners approved it.
Discussion:
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Job and Family Services (JFS) Levy Money Redistribution to County Entities: As discussed at the May 1 Budget Commission meeting, the MVP software program credited JFS with more levy money than it was entitled to receive. Mr. Walder updated the other Budget Commission members that MVP has provided the algorithm to fix this mistake. The calculations have been made, and approximately $806,000 is being returned to the rightful Geauga County entities. Mr. Walder noted that he is also paying those entities an “inconvenience fee” totaling approximately $30,000 across all entities, with the money coming from the Auditor's Office fees.
Public Comment:
This observer asked if any response had been received from GPH regarding the missed deadline that was discussed during the May 1 Budget Commission meeting. Mr. Walder responded that GPH Administrator Adam Litke asked for a meeting with him after receiving the Budget Commission’s letter. Mr. Walder stated that at their meeting, Mr. Litke admitted that GPH made a mistake in presenting a budget not approved by the GPH Board to the Budget Commission.
More Information and Posted Minutes: Available on Auditor website
Next Meeting: June 20, 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 6/5/2023
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.