Budget cuts likely to affect services

By NORMAN LEIGH
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
LISBON -- Columbiana County residents may want to brace themselves for a loss of some county government services, commissioners said.
The remarks came Friday as commissioners adopted a streamlined 2002 general budget of nearly $14.3 million. That's about the same amount as was spent in 2001.
Commissioners said they were forced to hack nearly $2 million from this year's anticipated expenditures to stay in the black.
"It's balanced," Commissioner Sean Logan said of the budget. But to accomplish that required "drastic cuts that have never been seen before," he added.
"Something had to be done," said Commissioner Chairman Jim Hoppel.
What was reduced: Commissioners trimmed more than $1 million from the county employee salary budget and nearly $900,000 from a list of expenses that includes housing prisoners and providing counseling and detention for troubled juveniles.
"With these cuts, there will by layoffs [of county employees]," Commissioner Dave Cranmer predicted.
Instead of furloughing employees, county department heads may alternately choose to reduce office hours or services to make ends meet, commissioners noted.
Commissioners have about $500,000 more to spend in 2002 because of recently revised estimates of how much the 1 percent county sales tax will earn.
Earlier in the year, officials thought it would bring in about $5.8 million. Now they believe it will produce about $6.6 million.
Revisions: That nearly $800,000 gain is offset, however, by a revised figure on how much interest the county will earn on its investments.
Originally, the county thought 2002 investment earnings would be about $1.3 million, but it's now believed that amount will be closer to $1 million as a result of lower interest rates, county Treasurer Linda Bolon said.
In a bid to bring more revenue into the county, commissioners agreed earlier this year to place a measure on the May 7 ballot calling for a 0.5 percent increase in the county's 1 percent sales tax.
The increase will bring in about $3 million annually.
The increase would bring in only part of that amount this year because collections wouldn't begin reaching the county until several months after passage.