Meeting Details: The Geauga County Budget Commission met in Regular Session on Monday, April 3, 2023 at 11:30 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. OBSERVER NOTE: The meeting was originally scheduled to begin at 10:00 AM. Technical difficulties delayed the opening of the meeting until 10:18am. At that time, the Budget Commission voted to recess the meeting until 11:30 AM so that it would not conflict with the Board of Revision meeting.
Meeting Attendance: Prosecutor Jim Flaiz, Chief Deputy Auditor Ron Leyde substituting for Auditor Chuck Walder (Mr. Walder attended virtually via Teams), and Chief Deputy Treasurer Caroline Mansfield substituting for Treasurer Chris Hitchcock. Reviewer Note: Budget Commission rules are that a member may attend virtually but cannot vote.
Staff Attendance: Deputy Auditors Tammy Most and Kristen Sinatra, and Fiscal Office Manager Pam McMahan.
County/School/Township/Village Representatives: Chardon School Superintendent Dr. Mike Hanlon and Chardon School Treasurer Deb Armbruster.
Minutes: Minutes from the Regular Meeting on 3/6/23 and the Special Meeting on 3/13/23 were both approved.
Millage Conversion Request:
At the School Budget Hearings in February, the Budget Commission expressed concern about the high cash balance in Chardon School District’s general fund and advised them to use some of that money to make needed capital improvements. In response, at this Budget Commission meeting Chardon administrators presented their Resolution 2023-07, which requests a transfer of 1 mill from the general fund to the capital projects fund. After more than 30 minutes of discussion (detailed below), the Budget Commission approved the Resolution.
Auditor Walder explained that he met with Chardon school officials, including Dr. Hanlon and Ms. Armbruster, after the School Budget Hearings. Dr. Hanlon and Ms. Armbruster jointly explained that they presented a number of proposed capital improvement projects to Mr. Walder at this meeting, including chemistry facility renovations at the high school, security and technology improvements, new windows, ceiling tile replacements, and gym floor replacements. These projects are all in addition to the district’s capital improvement plan and therefore were not included in the budget that Chardon Schools presented to the Budget Commission for approval in February.
Prosecutor Flaiz expressed his concern about recent letters to the editor that seem to imply the Budget Commission was made aware of the capital improvement projects Chardon School District planned to undertake at the School Budget Hearings, but this did not occur.
Mr. Walder pointed out that it was in fact the Budget Commissioners who suggested making capital improvements to the Chardon School District at the School Budget Hearings. Mr. Walder explained that the Budget Commission’s role isn’t to create need; it is to test need. He noted that all Geauga County entities receiving tax dollars must be held accountable to the taxpayers to prove their need for the taxpayers’ money.
Dr. Hanlon and Ms. Armbruster both denied soliciting any letters to the editor to be written on the district’s behalf and further denied sharing any information with the letter writers other than information included in the budget approved by the Budget Commission in February.
Mr. Flaiz reiterated the Budget Commission’s concern about Chardon School District’s high cash balance, projected to be just under $29 million dollars in its most current budget. He estimated that it would take the district 68 years to use up that amount of money with its current “burn rate.” He opined that it will be “a problem” if the Chardon School District has such a high cash balance at the School Budget Hearings again next year. Mr. Flaiz expressed his doubt that the current resolution to move 1 mill from the general fund to the capital improvements fund would do enough to decrease the general fund cash balance, as this will only result in about $800,000 being transferred from the general fund to the capital improvements fund each year.
Ms. Armbruster stated that the district has more plans in the works to reduce the general fund cash reserves, but these plans were not elaborated upon. Ms. Armbruster stated that she will submit more details in future School Budget Hearings.
Mr. Walder stated that the Chardon School District budget didn’t lack detail, but rather it lacked substance. Mr. Flaiz went on to state that the Budget Commission is not tasked with deciding what the Chardon School District spends its money on; instead, the Budget Commission must ensure that the Chardon School District is not stockpiling taxpayer money. Dr. Hanlon disagreed that the Chardon School District was stockpiling money and stated that he felt the estimate that the district has enough money to operate for 68 years was inaccurate.
Mr. Walder stated that many entities seem to want to know what an acceptable amount of carryover is and indicated that there is no “magic number.” However, he did note that the Kenston School District, which in many ways is comparable to Chardon, usually has a carryover of around $7-8 million, which is several times less than the nearly $29 million carryover of Chardon. Mr. Walder went on to state his concern that holding on to money for future improvements too far out is essentially taxing people in advance, which he deemed unfair.
Revenue Certification Requests:
The following Revenue Certifications were approved:
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Chardon Township - Amendment #3. $583,751.59 in the general fund, $2,468,398.95 in special revenue funds, $87,344.81 in debt service funds, and $704.22 in fiduciary funds for a total of $3,140,199.57. Appropriations do not exceed revenue.
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Burton Village - Amendment #2. $2,265,182.43 in the general fund, $2,387,125.73 in special revenue funds, $585,194.43 in capital project funds, $62,504.18 in special assessment funds, $4,105,933.06 in enterprise funds, and $123,166.47 in fiduciary funds for a total of $9,529,106.30. Appropriations do not exceed revenue.
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Russell Township - Amendment #3. $2,385,982.08 in the general fund, $10,609,894.47 in special revenue funds, $5,083.80 in debt service funds, and $2,620,255.09 in capital project funds for a total of $15,621,215.44. Appropriations do not exceed revenue.
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Thompson Township - Amendment #3. $363,697.69 in the general fund, $1,634,634.27 in special revenue funds, $140.56 in debt service funds, and $1,866.52 in special assessment funds for a total of $2,000,339.04. Appropriations do not exceed revenue.
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Auburn Township - Amendment #2. $1,006,491.20 in the general fund, $4,751,621.37 in special revenue funds, $212,200.00 in debt service funds, and $29,919.65 in capital project funds for a total of $6,000,232.22. Appropriations do not exceed revenue.
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Russell Township Citizens Park - Amendment #1 Re-sign. $29,702.73 in the general fund and $750.00 in capital project funds for a total of $30,452.73. Appropriations do not exceed revenue. OBSERVER NOTE: There was a formula error in this amendment when it was approved at the Budget Commission meeting on February 6 which inadvertently left out the $750.00 in capital project funds. This re-signing fixes the error.
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Russell Township Citizens Park - Amendment #2. $29,702.73 in the general fund and $3,321.11 in capital project funds for a total of $33,023.84. Appropriations do not exceed revenue.
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Middlefield Village - Amendment #2. $2,712,581.08 in the general fund, $10,207,385.99 in special revenue funds, $1,616,547.92 in capital project funds, $6,213,382.97 in enterprise funds, and $182,150.35 in fiduciary funds for a total of $20,932,048.31. Appropriations do not exceed revenue.
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Bainbridge Township - Amendment #3. $3,582,291.06 in the general fund, $20,134,062.16 in special revenue funds, $2,517,027.18 in debt service funds, $809,796.35 in capital project funds, $10,798.02 in special assessment funds, and $537.99 in fiduciary funds for a total of $27,054,512.76. Appropriations do not exceed revenue.
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City of Chardon - Amendment #3. $11,596,719.96 in the general fund, $9,091,147.14 in special revenue funds, $373,435.34 in debt service funds, $4,835,597.27 in capital project funds, $6,478,718.66 in enterprise funds, $8,054.18 in internal service funds, and $183,032.24 in fiduciary funds for a total of $32,566,704.79. Appropriations do not exceed revenue.
Discussion Items:
There were no discussion items.
Public Comment:
More Information and Posted Minutes: Available on Auditor website
Next Meeting: April 17, 2023 at 10:00 am in Suites A333-334 of the Geauga County Office Building at 12611 Ravenwood Drive, Chardon, Ohio.
Name of Observer: Sarah McGlone
Name of Editor: Anne Ondrey
Name of Reviewer: Gail Roussey
Submitted 4/3/2023
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