CANFIELD Trustees to study budget

Trustees are thinking about using $122,842 from the general fund to pay some road department expenses.
By IAN HILL
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
CANFIELD -- A special meeting is set for tonight to determine if Canfield Township will start the new year with a budget.
Trustees are planning to conduct the budget appropriations session at 7 in township hall. Approval of the budget has been delayed while the trustees discuss using general fund money to pay some road department expenses next year.
The department needs $377,700 in 2002 but expects to bring in $254,858 from license plate fees, gas taxes and other sources. So an additional $122,842 will be needed to cover expenses, township Clerk Carmen Heasley said.
Trustees are considering taking that amount from the general fund, which is budgeted at $3.7 million for next year. However, about $2.3 million of that amount is encumbered in a rainy-day fund. That leaves about $1.41 million for general fund expenditures.
"We are very, very close," Heasley said of balancing the budget. "It's a matter of a little adjustment here and there to get it right."
Dilemma: She said that without passage of at least an interim budget, trustees cannot pay their employees or other expenses in early January. State law allows trustees to pass an interim budget until they can agree on a permanent budget, Heasley said.
The possibility of a shortfall in the department budget was created in 1999 when Heasley began organizing the budget so township department heads paid their expenses using money from their accounts. General fund money had been used to pay some department expenses before that.
Heasley said the budget changes will give Canfield residents a better understanding of how their taxes are being spent.
"I have been pretty much moving expenditures around for better accountability," she said. "If it's a road expense, it's coming out of roads."
Awaiting ruling: Heasley said she is waiting for an opinion from the Mahoning County prosecutor on the use of the general fund money to pay road expenses next year. Trustee Paul Moracco noted that the state auditor has not objected to past use of general fund money to pay road department expenses.
Moracco added that if it is endorsed by the prosecutor, he will vote to approve the use of general fund money for the road department expenses. He also said he is willing to pass an interim temporary budget, if needed. Trustee Judy Bayus could not be reached to comment.
Township Road Supervisor Gary Cook stressed that he doesn't think township residents should be concerned about the shortfall.
"To me, it's a shame that people are so nervous, so worried that the township is going to collapse," Cook said. "I wish my personal finances were in this type of condition."
He was referring to the rainy-day fund, which Heasley said is earmarked recovery services, should the township every be hit with a disaster.
Road project: The proposed budget also calls for $321,000 in township general fund money to be spent on the Gibson Road improvement project. The project, which calls for the installation of a waterline, and widening and repaving of the road, is on hold until an appeals court judge rules on the trustees' ability to spend money on the improvements.
Local residents who fear the project will change the character of the neighborhood are suing the trustees to stop the project.
If the judge rules against the trustees, that money could be used for other general fund expenses.
Canfield Township does not have a tax levy in place for roads. When asked if he thinks the trustees will eventually have to seek voter approval of a road levy to pay future road expenses, Moracco answered, "I would hope not."
Moracco and Bayus are the only two trustees expected to attend tonight's meeting. Trustee William Weaver, whose term ends Monday has moved out of Canfield.
hill@vindy.com