Budget Commission Regular Meeting – December 28, 2023
Meeting Details: The Geauga County Budget Commission met in Special Session on Thursday, December 28, 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 and Chief Deputy Treasurer Caroline Mansfield (substituting for Treasurer Chris Hitchcock). Prosecutor Jim Flaiz was absent.
Staff Attendance: Chief Deputy Auditor Ron Leyde, 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 18 were approved.
The following Revenue Certifications were approved:
West Geauga Local School District - Amendment #3. $54,837,120.86 in the general fund,
$8,690,301.94 in special revenue funds, $4,213,637.13 in capital project funds, $1,702,679.99 in
enterprise funds, $275,645.11 in internal service funds, and $319,793.16 in fiduciary funds for a
total of $70,039,178.19. Appropriations do not exceed revenue.
West Geauga’s amendment certified a decrease in special revenue funds of $50,000 and an increase in capital project funds of $2 million.
Middlefield Village - Amendment #3. $3,282,083.89 in the general fund, $10,171,680.76 in
special revenue funds, $1,592,412.72 in capital project funds, $6,844,437.59 in enterprise funds,
and $182,150.35 in fiduciary funds for a total of $22,072,765.31. Appropriations do not exceed revenue.
Middlefield’s amendment certified a general fund increase of $69,289, a decrease in special revenue funds of $35,705.23, a decrease in capital project funds of $24,135.20, and a net adjustment to enterprise funds of $631,054.62.
Auburn Township - Amendment #5 - $1,006,491.20 in the general fund, $4,881,232.74 in special
revenue funds, $212,200.00 in debt service funds, and $89,919.65 in capital project funds for a total of $6,189,843.59. Appropriations do not exceed revenue.
Auburn’s amendment reflected an increase in capital project funds of $60,000.
The Budget Commission also acknowledged (no approval required) Auburn’s Resolution to establish a special revenue fund for a single axle dump truck with plow. Mr. Walder expressed concern that the fund name was very specific and therefore would limit what Auburn can do with the money; he was also concerned that Auburn’s Resolution was not stamped by the Prosecutor’s Office, which may indicate that Auburn’s Assistant Prosecuting Attorney (APA) has not reviewed the Resolution. However, Mr. Walder noted that his concerns were moot since money had already been transferred to this fund.
Newbury Township - Amendment #3. $1,460,925.79 in the general fund, $5,517,105.55 in
special revenue funds, and $2,313,658.18 in capital project funds for a total of $9,291,689.52.
Appropriations do not exceed revenue.
Newbury’s amendment reflected a general fund increase of $25,650.50, a special revenue fund net adjustment of $28,886.30, and a capital project fund decrease of $690,000.
The Budget Commission also acknowledged (no approval required) two Newbury Resolutions establishing reserve funds for1) the service garage and 2) Oberland Park. Mr. Walder was again concerned that the Resolutions were not stamped by the Prosecutor’s Office. The Budget Commission decided to require Resolutions be stamped by an APA going forward in order to be sure that all Resolutions are in compliance with Ohio Revised Code.
Other Business:
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Property Tax Rates have been approved by the State. These rates will be certified by the Budget Commission at its next meeting, and then the Treasurer’s Office will be able to create first half property tax bills that will go out in January. Mr. Walder noted that ISSG software is being used for the tax bill creation process, and he said that this company is “much more cooperative” than the old software program company MVP.
Public Comment:
This observer clarified that it was Auburn Township that had the Resolution for the dump truck with plow, that ISSG is the name of the software program replacing MVP, and that first half property tax bills will go out in January. This observer also asked if the tax rates approved by the State will be incorporated into the Property Tax Estimator on the Auditor’s website. Mr. Walder said they would not be, because by the time the approved rates could be added to the website, people would most likely have already received their property tax bills anyway.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:47 am.
More Information and Posted Minutes: Available on Auditor website
Next Meeting: January 3, 2024 at 10:00 am in the Auditor’s Conference Room at 215 Main Street, Chardon, Ohio.
Observers: Sarah McGlone
Editor and Reviewer: Gail Roussey
Submitted 1/1/24
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