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Meeting Details: Special Meeting of the Budget Commission July 7, 2022 10:00-10:15 AM at Auditor’s conference room in person and via WebEx.

Present:

• Chris Hitchcock (Treasurer)
• Chuck Walder ( Auditor)
• James Flaiz (Prosecutor)
• Tammy Most (Deputy Auditor)
• Kristen Sinatra (Deputy Auditor)

Actions and Discussion:

1. Approval of County Commissioners Amendment # 11 due to an increase in Sales Tax Revenue. The new total for Sales Tax was $42,878,715.10
2. No action taken on the Geauga Parks District request for creating a new Capital Reserve FundIAW 5705.13(c) At the last meeting several irregularities were noted with the request (as stated in LWVG Observer report for that meeting):
i. The Resolution indicates this reserve fund is for land acquisition, but the minutes reflect that the funds are for improvement of existing assets.
ii. The resolution indicates the reserve fund is coming from an income stream which is highly unusual.
iii. The Resolution indicates the seed money is $1 million but the actual is $1.3 million
iv. There is no cap on the maximum reserve.
v. The term is identified as at the time the revenue is collected, not when the reserve fund is created. vi. They have already appropriated money (although this is an Auditor issue, not a Budget Commission issue). Due to these questions, the auditor prepared a list of questions for Prosecutor Flaiz which was sent on Friday. Prosecutor Flaiz has not had an opportunity to review this voluminous amount of information. Tabling for now, pending legal review.
3. After this discussion and questions from the public (LWV observer) the meeting was adjourned.

More Information:
More Information and Minutes of past meetings available here when posted. 

Next Meeting: August 1, 2022, at 10 a.m.

Observer: Gail Roussey
Editor: Betsy Kubbins
Reviewer: Shelly Lewis
Submitted 7/07/2022

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.