2026 County Budget Presented with No Anticipated Reductions to
Departmental Budgets
Board of County Commissioners Meeting - July 1, 2025
Meeting Details: The Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) met in Regular Session on Tuesday, July 1, 2025 at 9:30 am for a meeting at the County Administration Building, 12611 Ravenwood Drive, Room B303, Chardon, OH. Meetings can also be live streamed through the Geauga ADP Youtube channel. Recordings are available for the public. The July 1, 2025 meeting recording can be found here. As of the date of publication this video has been viewed 172 times. Notations in the report refer to the minute notation on the video for a particular section. An agenda is available in advance via request to the Commissioners’ Clerk and at the meeting. Items discussed at the meeting but not on the agenda, if any, are addressed at the end of this report.
Public Comment Policy: Permitted as outlined in the BOCC’s Public Comment Policy that was adopted on January 28, 2025 and revised on April 15, 2025. Observer Note: The above link to the Policy does not have the revision, which was simply to change the time allowed for public comment from two minutes to three minutes.
Attendance: Present were Commissioners Carolyn Brakey, James Dvorak and Ralph Spidalieri. Also present were Commissioners’ Clerk Christine Blair, County Administrator Amy Bevan, Assistant County Administrator Linda Burhenne and Finance Manager Adrian Gorton.
County Representatives: Shane Hajjar, Deputy Engineer, Engineer’s Office; Sheriff Scott Hildenbrand and Chief Deputy Thomas Rowan; Deborah Ashburn, Senior Financial Specialist; Charles (Chuck) Walder, Auditor; James Flaiz, Prosecutor; Elaine Malkamaki, Program Director and Gina Hofstetter, Director, Community Development; Tim Kehres, Family First Council Coordinator; Roger Peterson, Emergency Services Director; Kathleen Hostutler, Human Resources Director
Others in Attendance: Kimberly Brown, Senior Outreach Manager, Ohio GuideStone; Frank Antenucci, Chief Deputy Administrator, ADP; County residents Tom and Diane Jones, other members of the public and press, and this Observer.
5:08 Min. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited and a prayer was offered by Commissioner Dvorak.
Minutes: No Minutes were submitted for approval. Observer Note: Weekly LWVG Observer Reports for BOCC are available online through July 1, 2025 for informational purposes but are not substitutes for approved minutes. Approved BOCC Minutes are posted online here through April 1, 2025.
5:50 Min Financial Report - Mr. Gorton received approval for the following:
-
Appropriations transfer to the Sheriff for miscellaneous refunds, reimbursements, and web checks that were deposited into the general fund
-
Travel for ADP, JFS (Job and Family Services) and Juvenile Court
Vouchers:
-
$236,484 from the Auditor to Gannett Funding Incorporated for their annual GIS (Geographical Information Systems) managed services fees for the cloud implementation.
-
$55,296 from the Sheriff to Upstate Wholesale Supply Incorporated for eight in-car video camera installations.
-
$37,669 from the Sheriff to Interaction Insight Corporation to purchase a new 911 recorder replacement.
Revenue Certification for Office on Aging for 2025 unbudgeted revenue
7:16 Min. OhioGuidestone received approval for a letter of support to the Ohio Developmental Disabilities Council in support of the grant application for “Pathways to Progress: Community Outreach and Family Engagement for Individuals with Developmental Disabilities.” This grant will support the expansion of their Beyond Limits Program, with outreach efforts and engagement within the communities and counties it serves, including Geauga County.
The representative from OhioGuidestone, Ms. Brown said that OhioGuidestone started in 1864 as an orphanage for children whose parents died in the Civil War. She said that now they are in 33 counties across Ohio. The grant is to help individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities get ready for work and find work. It will be used to hire an individual for outreach work. The grant would fund half the position of Community Engagement Specialist and would get that person in the door. Ms. Brown said that OhioGuidestone would support the position going forward. They also work with JFS on a case management program for 14-24 year olds with disabilities, and they coordinate with the Department of Developmental Disabilities by reaching out to SSAs (Service and Support Administrators) for referrals. She said that there are 10 individuals in Geauga County utilizing their services.
12:16 Min. The County Engineer’s Office received approval for the following:
-
To execute Change Order #1 and Final, decreasing the Contract with Grade Line, Incorporated for the Replacement of Culverts on Various Roads in Munson Township in the amount of $770.32. Deputy Engineer, Mr. Hajjar said that there were some minor adjustments.
-
To execute the Unit Price Contract with Ronyak Paving, Incorporated for the Placement of Crack Seal on Various Roads in Geauga County in the amount of $232,825.00. Mr. Hajjar said that they will do crack sealing on 35 miles of road and that there is a tonnage amount involved, which will be used until it is used up.
-
To execute the Unit Price Contract with Oglesby Construction, Incorporated for the Pavement Markings of Various Roads in Geauga County in the amount of $269,572.85.
-
To execute the Unit Price Contract with Ronyak Paving, Incorporated for the Asphalt Resurfacing of Wilson Mills Road (CH-0008, Sections G-L) in Munson Township in the amount of $1,269,675.00.
-
To execute Resolution #25-138 Authorizing James W. Dvorak, Board Member of the Geauga County Board of Commissioners and Chief Executive Officer for Ohio Public Works Commission (OPWC) Project #DGAC01, to electronically execute and submit the Project Grant / Loan Agreement, the Asphalt Resurfacing of Sperry Road, (CH-0012, Sections B-G) in Newbury, Russell and Chester Townships. Mr. Hajjar estimated the cost to be $500,000, with the grant covering just under 50%.
-
To execute Resolution #25-139 Authorizing James W. Dvorak, Board Member of the Geauga County Board of Commissioners and Chief Executive Officer for Ohio Public Works Commission (OPWC) Project #DGAC02, to electronically execute and submit the Project Grant / Loan Agreement, the Asphalt Resurfacing of Fairmount Road, (CH-0016, Sections C-E) in Russell and Newbury Townships.
17:10 Min. The Sheriff’s Office received approval for the following:
-
To execute the Ohio Department of Public Safety, Office of Criminal Justice Services Subgrant Award Agreement for 2024 JG347 Grant for Violent Crime Reduction with Flock in the amount of $25,500.00 ($19,125.00 from Office of Criminal Justice Services and $6,375.00 Local County match). This grant is for the period January 1, 2025 through December 31, 2025. Observer Note: Flock cameras read license plates. See more information about Flock here.
-
To execute the Ohio Department of Public Safety, Office of Criminal Justice Subgrant Award and Agreement for Grant #2025-VC-VCR-78337, Violent Crime Reduction with Flock in the amount of $12,750.00 from Office of Criminal Justice Services (with no Local County match). This grant is for the period July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2026.
Sheriff Hildenbrand said that the County now has ten flock cameras but that they can utilize the data from other counties and entities as well. He said that they identified an individual driving into the County who had planned on harming a grandparent.
21:48 Min. The Community and Economic Development Department received approval for the following:
-
To execute the Ohio Department of Development, Building Demolition and Site Revitalization Program Grant Agreement for the period July 4, 2023 through December 31, 2025 in the amount of $500,000.00. Ms. Malkamaki said that the State of Ohio always picks a set date–usually July 1. They can go back six months after the grant agreement, so this award was already made. She said the grant agreement happened in October/November 2024, and it has taken this long to be received by the department and then to receive approval from the Prosecutor. One is for the school bus parking area in Chardon (which is almost complete) and another is for a house in Newbury that was falling down.
-
To execute the Ohio Department of Development, Brownfield Remediation Program, Brownfield Remediation Reimbursement Agreement between Geauga County and both 7145 Pine LLC and 7139 Pine Street, LLC in the amount of $2,917,012.00. Ms. Malkamaki said that there is a 25% match from the owners, which in this case is $700,000.
-
Ms. Malkamaki also asked for permission to submit electronically and that was approved.
Ms. Hofstetter thanked Ms. Malkamaki for her work in getting this grant.
28:31 Min. The Department of Job and Family Services received approval to execute the Geauga County Family First Council Mutual Funding Agreement between the Geauga County Board of Commissioners, Geauga County Job and Family Services, Geauga County Board of Developmental Disabilities and the Geauga County Board of Mental Health and Recovery Services for the period July 1, 2020 through December 31, 2025. This agreement commits the Board of County Commissioners to providing a support payment of $29,739.00 from the General Fund.
Mr. Kehres, Family First Council Coordinator, spoke about the details of this Agreement. He said that they had a dip in need for residential placements in 2023, which was unusual across the state as most counties were seeing an increase. Mr. Kehres said that in 2023 Geauga County had a year-end surplus, but is now on par with other counties. They jumped from spending $283,775 in 2024 to $632,878 so far this year for residential placements.
The Commissioners’ portion is small, but the smallest contribution is from the Geauga Board of Developmental Disabilities. The largest contribution is from JFS with whom they work most closely as the primary role is to prevent JFS from having to take custody of a child.
Mr. Kehres said that they work with families without private insurance, or who have insurance that doesn't cover residential treatment.
The Commissioners’ Office received approval for the following:
-
To accept the resignation of Roger Peterson, Director of Emergency Services, to be effective August 1, 2025.
The Commissioners thanked Mr. Peterson for his 10 years of service and for always being available in the event of an emergency. He said that he has taken a job as a Fire Chief.
38.54 Min. The Commissioners’ Office held a Public Hearing at 10:00 a.m. to discuss the Geauga County 2026 Tax Budget.
Observer Note: This was a presentation on the Budget. The Budget was later approved by the Commissioners at the BOCC meeting on July 8, 2025; a report on this meeting will be available at www.lwvgeauga.org when published. The Commissioners must pass a tax budget by July 15th and it has to be delivered to the Auditor no later than July 20th. Between July 15th and the end of the year no changes can be made to the tax budget.
Mr. Gorton was joined by Debbie Ashburn and he thanked all the citizens of the County, fiscal officers, the Auditor and all who contributed to the Budget process.
Total 2026 Tax Budget - $168.7M
General Fund Budget - $50.6M
General Fund Requests - $50.6M
Observer Note: Most department budgets are paid fully or partially through the General Fund, and Mr. Gorton said there were no unfunded or delayed funding requests for departments.
Mr. Gorton acknowledged that things could change with revenue depending on many factors.
2026 General Fund Revenue $47.8 Million ($550,000 increase in Revenue from 2025)
45.46 Min. General Fund Sources of Revenue: The three largest sources of General Fund revenue are: the sales tax at 45.53% ($21.8 Million); Real Estate Taxes at 24.15% ($11.5 Million) and Interest Income at 6.28% ($3 Million).
Ms. Ashburn said that the sales tax was established in 1984 at 3%; within 15 years it was at 5.75%. She said the local portion could go up an additional 2.5%. Geauga County approved a 0.5% sales tax rate hike in 1987 and again in 2004, bringing the total to 6.75%, which is what it is today. The County actually receives 1%, while the remaining 5.75% goes to the State. The 2026 total projected sales tax revenue in Geauga is $147.5 million; the County is estimated to receive $21.8 Million of this amount. Ms. Ashburn said that 15 counties are in the same sales tax range as Geauga (6.55-6.75%); 11 counties are slightly higher (6.75 - 7%); 51 counties are at 7.05-7.25 (Including Lake at 7.25%); five are at 7.55% and above, including Cuyahoga at 8%.
Property Tax Revenue
For every $1.00 of property tax paid by a homeowner in Geauga County, an average of $0.167 is used to fund County programs. The remaining $0.833 funds the local school districts, including JVSD (Joint Vocational School District), the Townships, Municipalities, the Public Library and the Parks. Ms. Ashburn said that the 83.3¢ is distributed to local entities as follows: 54.2¢ to schools, 16.9¢ to townships and Health District; 2.3¢ to vocational education; 0.8¢ to special school districts (Riverside and Madison, located on county lines); 3.3¢ to city/village; 2.8¢ to parks and 3.4¢ to the library.
Levies represent 11¢ of each dollar of property tax income, distributed as follows:
Carryover & Revenue
Mr. Gorton said that interest income is "way up” and projected a modest carryover from 2025. Projected 2026 revenue numbers are as follows:
2025 Carryover $10.5 Million
Projected Revenue to be Received in 2026 $47.8 Million
Total Estimated 2026 Revenue $58.3 Million
Budget Assumptions
No wage increases or hospitalization increases are built into the budget. Mr. Gorton said he was hoping that this year the budget process produced a more accurate number, as they asked departments to submit budgets at 90% of prior levels.
Mrs. Brakey asked about wage increases. Mr. Gorton said that they usually build that in later. He also said that some departments have already budgeted for increases. He said that the Sheriff is in the middle of negotiations and once completed, the results of the new agreement will be incorporated into the budget.
1:08 Min. 2026 General Fund Expenses - 73% of expenses are related to payroll, medical and hospitalization. Some departments had increases based on other factors such as maintenance and supplies
Departments with reduced expenses include Juvenile Court/Probation, Board of Elections, and the Treasurer’s Office.
General Fund - General Categories of Use: (Data as presented in slide)
$s in Millions
| Category |
2025 |
2026 |
|
| Public Safety (40%) |
$ 16.4 |
$ 18.0 |
(Sheriff, Coroner, Building) |
| Legislative & Executive (37.4%) |
$ 15.4 |
$ 16.8 |
|
| Judicial (15.4%) |
$ 6.6 |
$ 6.9 |
|
| Conservation / Recreation (1.4%) |
$ 0.6 |
$ 0.6 |
|
| Human Services (1.6%) |
$ 0.7 |
$ 0.7 |
|
| Health (handicapped children) (0.2%) |
$ 0.1 |
$ 0.1 |
|
| Miscellaneous (4%) |
$ 1.7 |
$ 1.8 |
|
| Total |
$ 41.5 |
$ 44.9 |
|
1:14:45 Min. Fund Balances and Purpose (Information as presented on slide)
-
$2.6M – Senior Center Construction Fund – Money from sale of previous Senior Center along with funds transferred from the department. We are currently searching for property to buy. The balance of the funds will be used for construction and/or renovation of the building and property.
-
$6.2M – American Rescue Plan Fund – $5M for McFarland WWTP (Waste Water Treatment Plant), $1M for Aquilla WWT Rehabilitation, $200K to the Department on Aging.
-
$3.2M – Building Improvement Fund – Will be used to improve County buildings. Multiple projects are currently in various phases of completion. Have $4M in projects on the five- year plan for 2026.
-
$13M – Capital Reserve Funds Phases 1 & 2 – Office building complete. Money ($800K) for building adjustments and Elections moving expenses. Phase 2 courthouse expansion under construction ($12.2M).
Long-term Facilities Strategy
-
Evaluate facilities for future remodeling and rehabilitation as part of a comprehensive Master Plan
-
Plan to divest unused or under-utilized County properties and consolidate departmental operations under one footprint
-
Explore alternative revenue streams and protective measures in anticipation of property tax or millage reductions
Mr. Gorton asked for comments and said that the budget would be approved the following week. Mrs. Brakey asked what other sources of revenue were being investigated, and Mr. Gorton said chiefly raising the sales tax. She also asked about the unencumbered cash carryover having been decreased, and Mr. Gorton said that was a result of ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds having been used. She also asked about inmate incarceration having gone down, but it was a very small decrease.
Mr. Dvorak thanked Mr. Gorton for the detailed report.
Prosecutor Flaiz said that “from a budget cycle perspective, as somebody who submits a budget, I thought this year, of the 14 years I've been here, I thought this was the best year. I thought it was a more collaborative process. I just appreciated your efforts and from a budget commission perspective… I mean, I know it was a lot of work, how much effort you've put into more accurately reflecting the
carryover and drilling down on some of those things and holding some people's feet to the fire on getting you more accurate numbers.”
Auditor Walter said, “I would agree with Jim (Flaiz) that this is probably the most comprehensive well thought out plan. . . although every budget has its degree of uncertainty. I think you have demonstrated that, even while fully funding the budget, we still have responsible carryover….”
1:26:23 Min. Executive Session at 10:50 am for the purpose of discussing the compensation of a public employee, pursuant to O.R.C. 121.22 (G) (1). Ms. Burhenne joined the Executive Session but Ms. Bevan did not.
1:30:25 Min. Return from Executive Session: At 10:55 am the Board returned with action. Ms. Burhenne said that the Commissioners had received a letter from OPERS (Ohio Public Employees Retirement System) to permit Ms. Bevan to utilize prior service and the Commissioners acknowledged the letter.
Board Discussion – Geauga County Courthouse Network Cabling, Diligent Community Product
Ms. Burhenne explained that the Network cabling question had to do with the current plan using a “daisy chain” approach to supplying fiber. With this approach, If one floor goes out, then the other two will as well. She said that the better approach would be a “home run” approach, so that if one floor goes out, the others would still function. Ms. Burhenne said that the cost estimate was $20,000. Mr. Antenucci said he thought the $20,000 is high, but he also felt it would be best to go with the “home run” approach. It was decided that they would negotiate on the cost.
Mr. Antenucci discussed the Diligent Community Product, which would allow the Commissioners to post all Agendas and minutes and other information on their website as Board Docs. He said this was something that the League of Women Voters had suggested and also that school districts (such as Kenston) also use. Mrs. Brakey said she just wanted to make sure that it would work for Commissioners. Ms. Blair said anyone who wanted to add to the site would need log-in credentials, but Mrs. Brakey confirmed that a user who just wanted to view documents would not need credentials. Observer Note: School Boards in the County use Board Docs. An example of this, as mentioned, is Kenston Board of Education. Click on the meeting tab to select a meeting to review the Agenda and minutes (if posted).
Public Comment:
Mr. Gorton thanked Sheriff Hildebrand for also being there to be part of the budget process.
There was no other public comment.
Meeting adjourned at 11:07 am.
More Information and Posted Minutes: Available here.
Next Regular Meeting of the BOCC: The next two Regular Meetings of the BOCC will be on Tuesday, July, 8, 2025 and Tuesday, July 15, 2025 at 9:30 am at the County Administration Building, 12611 Ravenwood Drive, Room B303, Chardon, OH.
Observer: Gail Roussey
Editor: Rooney Moy
Reviewer: Sarah McGlone
Date Submitted: July 9, 2025
The League of Women Voters 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.