Lack of fiscal discipline triggers Trumbull crisis

Trumbull County department heads caught in a budgetary vise bear sole responsibility for the layoffs that appear inevitable before year's end. They had ample warning that business as usual was a recipe for disaster and were told by commissioners Michael O'Brien, Joseph Angelo and James Tsagaris to curb their spending ways.
But the warning fell on deaf ears, and so this week O'Brien conceded, "Additional layoffs are realistic."
Earlier in the year, the county furloughed 100 employees to erase an $8 million budget deficit. That action was taken while Gov. Bob Taft and the Republican controlled General Assembly were making deep cuts to the state's operating budget, cuts that resulted in state funding for local governments being slashed.
In addition, the economic downturn nationally had the effect of putting pressure on state and local governments.
Thus, only the most optimistic or the most irresponsible of government officials would operate as though Trumbull County's treasury were a bottomless pit. But that's what happened, and because the necessary reduction in spending did not take place, the planning commission, for example, will end the year with a budget deficit of more than $100,000 unless the current rate of spending slows to a crawl.
Grants
The department is anticipating some grants, which should cover a portion of the shortfall, but planning director Gary Newbrough believes his department will still fall short about $80,000. The commission will decide how to deal with this situation in the next few weeks, but one thing is clear: No help will be forthcoming from the commissioners.
O'Brien, Angelo and Tsagaris sent a letter to all department heads last week telling them they must live within their budgets. That is not an unreasonable position for the commissioners to take, given the warnings they have issued through the year about the county's fiscal plight.
The planning commission and others must act now. Putting off the inevitable will result in an even larger number of county employees having to be laid off.
The news of the current fiscal crisis brought on by department heads not heeding the warning signs could not have come at a worse time. Trumbull County voters are being asked to approve a 0.5 percent piggyback sales tax in the November general election and the lack of fiscal discipline on the part of some officials will simply serve to confirm the belief of many taxpayers that government spending will never be bought under control.
But a fair reading of what has taken place with regard to the county's budget will show that the commissioners acted responsibly and have been good stewards of the public treasury. They should not be held responsible for the lack of judgment on the part of some department heads.
The piggyback sales tax can be justified.