COLUMBIANA CO. Budget to be similar to 2003's

No layoffs or severe service cutbacks are expected in 2004
By NORMAN LEIGH
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
LISBON -- Columbiana County commissioners are crafting a 2004 general fund budget that's expected to allocate about the same amount as earmarked for 2003.
The spending plan may be ready for passage as early as today, commissioners said Tuesday.
Details on how much each department will receive weren't prepared Tuesday because commissioners were busy putting finishing touches on the document.
They're working with the $17,854,994 in revenue that county Auditor Nancy Milliken has conservatively estimated will be available in 2004 for the general fund.
County officials are figuring about $11.5 million of the nearly $17.9 million will come from the county's 1.5 percent sales tax. The tax has earned about $11.4 million in the last 12 months.
Milliken said the higher, $11.5 million 2004 sales tax revenue estimate is based on predictions that the economy will continue its recovery.
Other county revenue comes from fees charged for services and from investment interest.
Designating money
Commissioner Sean Logan said virtually all the $17.9 million in revenue will be allocated in next year's spending plan, which will designate money for various county departments and for paying bills, repaying loans and meeting other expenses.
The 2003 budget allocated about $17.9 million. It's likely the county government spent more than that this year, but an actual 2003 spending figure wasn't available Tuesday.
No layoffs or severe service cutbacks are expected to result from the 2004 budget, Commissioner Jim Hoppel said.
For the last two years, commissioners have adopted short-term budgets to cover the first three months of the new year. Final budgets haven't been passed until spring when the county's financial picture is clearer.
The short-term budgets were useful when the county was mired in a fiscal crisis brought on by a shortage of sales tax revenue, Hoppel said.
Now that the crisis has passed, commissioners are prepared to return to a single year-long budget, he added.
Assembling a single spending plan for the entire year is more efficient and less time consuming, Hoppel said.