TRUMBULL COUNTY Officials join suit against state agency

WARREN -- Trumbull County commissioners have agreed to join with boards from more than 50 other Ohio counties in a lawsuit against the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services.
The suit, which has been endorsed by Ohio County Commissioners Association, charges that cutbacks in funding to county departments of jobs and family services violate a partnership agreement between the county and state departments.
Thomas Mahoney, the director of Trumbull County Department of Jobs and Family Services, said that ODJFS plans to reduce the amount of money it gives to county departments statewide by $45 million to $65 million in 2004.
The cost of supporting the litigation will come from the county department of jobs and family services' budget.
Commissioners also approved a three-year contract with unionized employees at the 911 dispatch center.
The last employment contract for 29 members of the Ohio Patrolmen's Benevolent Association at the center expired in December, officials said.
Dispatchers will get a 5-percent raise in the first year of the new contract, retroactive to when the old contract expired. The contract also includes 3-percent raises the second and third years.
Employees also agreed to go to a new, less-expensive county health-care program when it is put into effect, county officials said.