MAHONING COUNTY Judge Dellick touts 2004 budget but still faces criticism

By DAVID SKOLNICK and BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITERS
YOUNGSTOWN -- Judge Theresa Dellick of Mahoning County Juvenile Court says she is being fiscally conservative with her 2004 budget request.
The request of $6.8 million is $100,000 less than the amount she'd originally requested for 2003, which the Ohio Supreme Court ruled she was entitled to receive.
"We're trying to do more with less, and this budget shows that," she said Tuesday during budget hearings with county commissioners.
But Commissioner Vicki Allen Sherlock said the judge isn't being realistic with her request.
That's because the request is more than 20 percent higher than what juvenile court will spend this year. Meanwhile, she said, other departments are being forced to take huge budget cuts.
"To say this is a reduction because of the Supreme Court ruling and that you're doing more with less, anyone sitting in this room knows that's not the case," Sherlock said after the budget hearing.
Judge Timothy P. Maloney of probate court told commissioners he's trying to help the county through its financial crisis by lopping $15,000 off his budget request for next year.
Commissioners held budget hearings with the judges Tuesday to discuss their funding requests for 2004. Commissioners will determine 2004 budget allocations for the courts and other county agencies by Dec. 18.
The controversy
Judges Dellick and Maloney successfully sued the county over their budget allocations for this year. Commissioners gave the juvenile court $4.6 million for 2003, down from $5.35 million it spent in 2002. Judge Dellick had asked for $6.9 million for this year, and the Supreme Court ruled she should have gotten it. She accepted $925,000 instead of the extra $2.3 million the court said she should receive.
Judge Maloney requested $922,196 for this year but was budgeted $750,000. Commissioners gave him the additional funding after the high court's ruling.
Judge Dellick and Eva Burris, her court administrator, were peppered with questions by county Administrator Gary Kubic and Elizabeth Sublette, budget director, about increases in the budget.
The changes
The court's 2004 request for hospitalization is $1,069,356, compared with $616,393 for this year. Also, the supplies budget request is 36.7 percent more than this year's; the budget request for natural gas is double the 2003 budgeted amount; the request for travel, seminars and conferences is also double; and there is a $275,000 request for permanent improvements, compared with zero for this year.
Burris said the court has no supplies so it needs to make several purchases; the court was told by Dominion East Ohio that gas costs would double; they plan to increase travel to become better trained, and that much of it will be reimbursed; and there is a desperate need for certain improvements such as repaving the parking lot and fixing the sidewalks.
Judge Dellick and Burris said the court is willing to implement employee contributions toward health-care premiums but needs more information from county officials before deciding on an amount. Commissioners have asked that employees contribute 10 percent toward the monthly cost of premiums.
Pay increase
Judge Dellick and Burris were also asked about 3 percent across-the-board pay increases they plan to give court employees next year.
"We don't call it a pay raise; we call it an adjustment," Judge Dellick said.
Some employees had their salaries reduced in 2002 by 5 percent because of budget constraints, the judge and Burris said. This just makes up part of that cut, they said.
But Sublette pointed to a number of juvenile court employees who received pay increases of 10 percent to 32 percent, and even 108 percent in one case. Sublette asked if there were any evaluations done before raises were given. The judge and Burris didn't answer the question.
"Some of these raises are outrageous," Sherlock said after the hearing. "This flies in the face of reason. ... It's a money grab."
The juvenile court has the second-highest budget of any county department. In 2000, its annual budget was $3.53 million. If Judge Dellick's request is approved, the court's budget would nearly double in four years.
Trimmed down
Judge Maloney had originally requested $920,070 for next year but said at his hearing that he's cut his request to $904,051.
"Quite frankly, I think we have cut our budget as far as we possibly can and still operate the court efficiently," he said.
Like Judge Dellick, Judge Maloney said he intends to grant his employees a 3 percent raise next year, which he said is fair and reasonable.
Judge Maloney said he does not intend to require his employees to contribute toward health insurance because there is no consistency in the way the copayment is applied.
He said some county employees contribute $6 a month, some contribute 10 percent, and some contribute none at all.
"With those ambiguities and lack of clarity, I'm not about to subscribe to anything," he said.