GIRARD Budget to come soon

Defaulting on several loans contributed to the city's financial squeeze.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
GIRARD -- Mayor James Melfi aims to be ready to present his fiscal recovery plan for the city within the next month.
The plan, a requirement because the city is in fiscal emergency, must be approved by city council and a state commission overseeing city spending.
State Auditor Jim Petro's office declared the city in fiscal emergency Aug. 8, and the seven-member commission was appointed shortly thereafter.
The mayor has been silent about the contents of the recovery plan, saying he prefers to submit it as a whole rather than in pieces. He said at a commission meeting Thursday that he may have it ready for the next commission meeting Nov. 29.
Girard is expected to end this year more than $1 million in debt.
Loans: The city defaulted on its payments on two loans from the Ohio Water Development Authority that were used to buy Girard and Liberty lakes, and a payment on a $225,125 loan for improvements at the sewage treatment plant.
Also contributing to financial problems was the city's commitment to spend $2.1 million on underground utilities when U.S. Route 422 is widened through downtown.
The city also borrowed $4 million from a commercial bank to pay for a new justice center that city officials say cost $5 million.
Auditor Sam Zirafi said he's spoken to OWDA officials about restructuring the debt on the loans for the lakes.
Court operations: Other questions came up about the operations of the court. A portion of Girard Municipal Court proceeds go to other communities that use the court, but those communities don't pay any of the costs to operate the court.
"To put it in simple terms, the city is subsidizing the court," Zirafi said.
Unice Stevenson Smith, northeast regional project manager of the state auditor's office, said the court isn't supposed to be self-sufficient. Some money that comes into the court goes to the state and some to other communities.
Joe Gray, commission chairman and a member of the analysis staff of the state Office of Budget and Management, asked about whether the court could pay some of its expenses that are now covered out of the general fund. That would lighten some of the load on the general fund, he said.
Smith said she would research the issue for the next meeting.
"The city is going to have to make some difficult decisions," Gray said, pointing to the possibility of cuts and layoffs, a tax increase and elimination of departments.
The financial crisis has prompted rumors of layoffs in general fund departments, which include police and fire departments, the court, and several administration departments.