MAHONING COUNTY Commission to look into court's request for budget increase

The juvenile court is asking for a $1 million increase to raise salaries and hire staff.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Mahoning County commissioners plan to meet with elected officials next month to start looking for ways to hold the line financially in 2002.
Judge Theresa Dellick of juvenile court and her staff will be among those sure to be called to discuss their budget proposal, said Gary Kubic, county administrator.
Commissioners approved temporary general fund budget appropriations last week totaling $16.4 million, enough to get them through the first three months of next year. A full budget must be in place by April.
Before the final budget is developed, commissioners want to meet with officials from departments who are seeking the most significant increases, Kubic said.
Juvenile court: Tops on the list will be the juvenile court, which has asked for $6.2 million for the year. That's about $1 million more than the court got this year, said Kubic and Judge Dellick.
"We'll be taking a close look at that one," Kubic said.
The judge said it's because her staff has been overlooked when it comes to cost-of-living wage adjustments over the past 10 years and she thinks it's time to bring them up to par. She took office in April and does not know why the increases were not sought in the past.
The increase will also cover the cost of hiring six probation officers to staff an in-school probation program and elevating all detention employees from part-time to full-time status, Judge Dellick said.
She said that the increase is "shocking," but insisted that it's not out of line. She said juvenile court staff is paid about 22 percent less than workers in other county departments who do similar jobs, and is proposing raises of that amount for most employees. Some won't get that much, she said.
The disparity was affirmed by a similar comparison done by the state auditor's office during a performance audit of county government, the judge said. The results of that audit are to be released Jan. 9. The performance audit showed that juvenile court employees are paid 21.7 percent less than other county employees.
The judge said it's not fair that other county employees have gotten cost-of-living adjustments over the years at the expense of juvenile court. The disparity has caused morale problems among court staff and made it difficult to hire and keep qualified personnel.
"We are not a political dumping ground here," Judge Dellick said. "We are running a business and we want qualified people."
Court officials are seeking grants to cover other operational costs and offset the cost of the proposed raises, Judge Dellick said.
Staganant revenues: Kubic said all budget requests must be scrutinized because the county's revenue stream has become stagnant.
The county gets most of its revenue from a pair of 0.5 percent sales taxes, one of which expires at the end of 2002 and will be up for renewal. Officials had anticipated about a 5 percent sales tax revenue loss next year, but Kubic said income has picked up recently and commissioners now expect revenue to remain about the same as this year.
"The sales tax flatlined for us," Kubic said. "But when there is no revenue growth it's almost like having a [budget] cut."
Judge Dellick said she and her staff will do what they can to help pare costs, but will stand firm on the request for raises.
"This has to be done because you have to have parity in your own county," she said.
bjackson@vindy.com