MAHONING Panel passes 2003 budget

The sheriff said no decision has been made about layoffs.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Mahoning County commissioners followed through on their pledge to pass a balanced budget for 2003.
Now they'll wait and see whether other officeholders follow through on their own pledges to sue for more money.
"I guess the final outcome of all this could be decided in court," said county Administrator Gary Kubic.
Commissioners approved general fund budget expenditures of $47.6 million, which is about $10 million less than this year's budget, according to Elizabeth Sublette, budget director.
The lion's share -- about $12.5 million -- went to the sheriff's department. That's well below the $17.8 million Sheriff Randall Wellington had requested for the year. It's also far below the $16 million Wellington will spend this year.
"I don't know what I'm going to do at this point," Wellington said after the meeting. "I'll have to go over my budget line by line and make some decisions."
The sheriff said last week that he'd have to lay off some 80 deputies to make up the huge budget reduction, but said Thursday that he hasn't made any decisions yet on layoffs.
Court budgets cut
The county juvenile and probate courts also received hefty budget cuts, despite court orders from judges Theresa Dellick and Timothy P. Maloney for increases.
Judge Maloney, of probate court, said earlier this week that he will not back off his demand and that commissioners will have to challenge his order in court if they don't want to follow it.
He had asked for $922,196, but was budgeted only $750,000.
Judge Dellick, of juvenile court, was budgeted $4.6 million but had submitted a court order for $6.9 million.
Atty. John B. Juhasz, who represents Judge Dellick in the budget matter, said she had not yet seen the final budget figures but will stick by her request for the higher amount.
"Her position is that this is the minimum amount necessary to run that court," Juhasz said. "Whatever steps are necessary to ensure that the appropriation is secured will be taken."
Kubic said officeholders knew as early as July that they would have to cut their budgets for next year.
Fund sources
Commissioner Ed Reese said 60 percent of general fund revenue is dependent on the economy. The bulk of it comes from a pair of 0.5 percent sales taxes, which bring in just more than 50 percent of general fund revenue.
Another main source is interest on investment earnings.
But with the economy in a downslide, those sources have slid backward instead of increasing as they normally would, Sublette said.
"Government, just like the private sector, is suffering from the downturn in the economy," she said.
Sublette said commissioners appropriated each office a set amount of money, and it will be up to each official to determine how to best spend it. Decisions on layoffs or other cuts will be up to individual officeholders.
bjackson@vindy.com