Cuts loom after levy defeats

Girard will need to look at ways to cut costs while maintaining services and safety, the mayor said.
By SHERRI L. SHAULIS
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- While Trumbull County school districts fared well for the most part in Tuesday's election, some cities and county agencies didn't.
The third time on the ballot brought the same results for a 1-mill levy for Trumbull Lifelines, which was defeated by about 5,000 votes.
"We're going to have to take a good, hard look at things and spend the next few weeks regrouping," said Nick Ceglia, director of the agency, which until last year was known as the Trumbull County Board of Alcohol, Drugs and Mental Health.
"We can't keep going the way we are," he added, noting that costs for services continue to rise.
Ceglia said the agency will continue to treat the most severe cases but the board will be forced to look at cuts. More than $1 million in cuts came after the levy was defeated by about 1,000 votes in May.
Girard income tax loses
Making cuts will also be on the minds of officials in Girard, where a 0.5-percent city income tax increase was defeated by more than a 2-to-1 margin.
"Nobody likes new taxes, including me," said Mayor James Melfi. "But I thought the one attractive thing about this tax was that it was temporary; I was willing to support it for two years."
The tax would have raised $50,000 for the general fund. The city has been in state-imposed fiscal emergency since August 2001.
Melfi said a state audit shows construction of a justice center and the purchase of Girard Lakes in the mid-1990s put the city in a hole it just hasn't been able to climb out of.
The focus now is to figure out how to make the $1.1 million cuts from the 2003 budget without compromising services or safety, he said.
Yankee Lake residents, however, approved a 3.9-mill levy -- the first levy in the village in at least 25 years.
The $8,148 raised for general operating expenses will allow the village to pay the clerk's salary and the $1,900 fee for a state audit every two years. The village was placed on fiscal watch in August after the state auditor found the village ended last year $1,034 in the red.
It was suggested then that the village be absorbed into Brookfield Township.
School issues
Several school districts in Trumbull County had measures on the ballot, including Joseph Badger, which saw a 7-mill bond issue to provide a match for construction of a central school for all students fail by fewer than 100 votes. The bond would have raised more than $10 million over 28 years, the local match for more than $18 million in state building funds.
A separate 4.6-mill renewal won by about 360 votes.
"We're obviously pleased the renewal passed," said Superintendent David Bair, noting the question now is whether voters want to return the state money and cover the costs of construction on a new school themselves.
The school board will meet Thursday to discuss placing the bond issue on the ballot again in a February special election.
Issues in the following districts passed: Bristol, 5.3-mill renewal levy; Brookfield, 1-mill permanent improvements renewal; McDonald, 4.3-mill renewal; Niles, 5.1-mill renewal; Southington, 5.2-mill renewal and a 2-mill renewal for permanent improvements; Howland, 3.4-mill renewal; Lakeview, 2.4-mill renewal; Mathews, 2-mill renewal.