Budget Commission Regular Meeting – December 18, 2023
Meeting Details: The Geauga County Budget Commission met in Regular Session on Monday, December 18, 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: Prosecutor Jim Flaiz, Auditor Chuck Walder, and Chief Deputy Treasurer Caroline
Mansfield (substituting for Treasurer Chris Hitchcock).
Staff Attendance: Deputy Auditors Tammy Most and Kristen Sinatra and Fiscal Office Manager Pam McMahan.
County Staff: Geauga County Budget and Finance Manager Adrian Gorton (virtual).
Others in Attendance: This observer (virtual).
The meeting was called to order at 10:00am.
Minutes: Minutes from the Regular Meeting on December 4 were approved.
The following previously approved Revenue Certifications were re-signed due to clerical errors:
The following Revenue Certifications were approved:
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Chardon Local School District - Amendment #3 - $62,632,124.06 in the general fund,$7,659,667.90 in special revenue funds, $434,341.20 in debt service funds, $3,111,443.05 in capital project funds, $8,469,996.86 in internal service funds, and $242,466.78 in fiduciary funds for a total of $82,550,039.85. Appropriations do not exceed revenue.
Chardon’s amendment reflected a negative net adjustment to various special revenue funds (amount not stated).
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Berkshire Local Schools - Amendment #4. $22,815,132.75 in the general fund, $3,826,408.04 in special revenue funds, $1,438,469.49 in debt service funds, $1,032,836.59 in capital project funds, $849,134.62 in enterprise funds, $481,168.08 in internal service funds, and $178,821.32 in fiduciary funds for a total of $30,621,970.89. Appropriations do not exceed revenue.
Berkshire’s amendment certified an increase in their special revenue funds of $186,035.44.
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Russell Township - Amendment #7. $2,972,747.48 in the general fund, $11,133,087.27 in special revenue funds, $5,083.80 in debt service funds, and $2,620,255.09 in capital project funds for a total of $16,731,173.64. Appropriations do not exceed revenue.
Russell’s amendment certified increases in the fire district and fire EMS special revenue funds totalling $132,460.80.
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South Russell Village - Amendment #8. $1,731,401.96 in the general fund, $7,491,205.38 in special revenue funds, $1,804,709.06 in capital project funds, and $266,036.53 in fiduciary funds for a total of $11,293,352.93. Appropriations do not exceed revenue.
South Russell’s amendment reflected an increase in capital project funds (amount not stated).
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Munson Township - Amendment #5. $1,125,210.31 in the general fund, $4,350,200.61 in special revenue funds, $200,000.00 in capital project funds, and $2,022.00 in special assessment funds for a total of $5,677,432.92. Appropriations do not exceed revenue.
Munson’s amendment certified an increase in their ambulance and EMS special revenue
fund (amount not stated).
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Geauga County - Amendment #17. $51,157,857.46 in the general fund, $129,712,711.48 in special revenue funds, $6,279,092.87 in debt service funds, $1,254,159.50 in special assessment funds, $28,211,904.47 in capital project funds, $18,146,411.63 in enterprise funds, $1,206,807.93 in internal service funds, and $3,757,550.66 in fiduciary funds for a total of $239,726,496.00. Appropriations do not exceed revenue.
Geauga County’s Amendment reflected decreases in 1) special revenue funds of approximately $1.3 million, 2) the community development capital project fund of $61,200, and 3) enterprise funds of $59,719.62.
Other Business:
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Middlefield Village’s Resolution to reduce their police levy tax collection by $55,700.62 in order to offset their inside millage windfall was approved by the Budget Commission.
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A letter from Huntsburg Township to the Budget Commissioners was read aloud by Mr. Flaiz. It stated that no decisions have been made about returning their inside millage windfall tax dollars to residents due to “a lack of comprehensive information required for an informed decision- making process” and stated they were “committed to resolving this issue in a timely manner.” The letter was signed by Huntsburg Fiscal Officer Michele Saunders and was undated, but Mr. Flaiz said it was received on December 11. Mr. Walder asked if Huntsburg had reached out to his office staff for more information, and Ms. Sinatra said that they had not. He expressed uncertainty about what additional information Huntsburg was seeking, as Ms. Sinatra confirmed that they received all the same information as the other entities who submitted Resolutions reducing levy collection to provide taxpayers relief from the inside millage tax increase. Observer Note: A listing of these entities and their Resolutions can be found in the December 4 Budget Commission Report. Mr. Walder said that “the window of opportunity has closed” with regard to offsetting inside millage windfalls, as the final paperwork has already been sent off to the State as of that morning (December 18).
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Mr. Walder stated that the Budget Commissioners were now ready to send letters of thanks to each elected official of the entities that chose to offset their inside millage windfalls by reducing levy collection as discussed at the December 4 meeting (see the link above for more information).
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Mr. Walder noted that bond reduction notifications have been sent to several Geauga school districts, including Berkshire, Cardinal, Kenston, and West Geauga. He explained that each year they check to see if any bonds received more tax dollars than they were entitled to. If this occurs, bond collection is “throttled” (reduced) the following year to prevent overcollection.
Public Comment:
This observer clarified that the approved Resolution to reduce police levy collection in fact came from Middlefield Village and was accounted for in the information sent to the State of Ohio.
This observer also confirmed that the Budget Commissioners still plan to hold a Special Meeting on December 28 at 10:00 am. Ms. Sinatra noted that there is a chance that this meeting may be canceled, depending on whether or not the Budget Commission has business to conduct at that time. Mr. Walder asked Mr. Gorton if more de-appropriations were anticipated from the County, and he said he didn’t think so, but it’s “pretty much day to day.” Therefore, the December 28 meeting will remain scheduled but may end up being canceled.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:17 am.
More Information and Posted Minutes: Available on Auditor website
Next Meeting: December 28, 2023 at 10:00 am in the Auditor’s Conference Room at 215 Main Street, Chardon, Ohio.
Observers: Sarah McGlone
Editor: Anne Ondrey
Reviewer: Gail Roussey
Submitted 12/18/23
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