Reallocate finances to avoid devastation, Tablack urges

By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Now that two Mahoning County judges have won a $2.5 million lawsuit against county commissioners, county Auditor George Tablack is hoping he can help soften the blow.
Because the bulk of the funding is going to the juvenile court, Tablack has scheduled a meeting with Judge Theresa Dellick to discuss an "orderly reallocation of funds."
If the county has to come up with the entire amount at once, it would devastate other departments whose budgets would have to be cut to come up with the money.
Tablack said he would like to help Judge Dellick and commissioners reach a consensus on a short-term plan to get her the money she needs immediately for operating this year, and a long-term plan to eventually allow her to implement new programs at the court.
The Ohio Supreme Court ruled Thursday that commissioners must come up with $2.5 million in additional funding for the county juvenile and probate courts. The courts sued commissioners in January after commissioners failed to appropriate them all the money they'd requested for this year.
Requested, received
Judge Dellick had asked for $6.9 million, but was allocated $4.6 million. The probate court was budgeted $750,000, even though Judge Timothy P. Maloney had sought $922,196.
Both judges issued their budget requests in the form of court orders. Commissioners argued that the county, which has seen its revenue stream go stagnant the past two years, could not afford the increases.
All other county general fund departments had their 2003 budgets reduced to 2000 levels.
County Administrator Gary Kubic said commissioners haven't yet met to come up with a plan for generating the $2.5 million, but said layoffs are a virtual certainty since personnel accounts for 70 percent of the county's general fund budget.
Atty. Mary Jane Stephens, who represented the courts, hailed the decision as proper and as proof that the courts' budget requests were not unreasonable.
"Funding the courts is a mandatory duty," Stephens said. "The commissioners chose to follow their own route, to their detriment."
Finding the funds
Judge Maloney declined to comment. In a written statement, Judge Dellick said the decision is a victory not only for the children of the county, but for all of its citizens and for the constitutional form of government.
"The Ohio Supreme Court has held consistently for 60 years that the branch of government which controls the purse strings cannot unreasonably interfere with the operation of the judicial branch," she wrote.
In its ruling, the high court said common pleas courts and their divisions have inherent power to order funding that is reasonable and necessary, and that commissioners are obligated to provide it.
The court ruled that commissioners did not evaluate the operations or spending of the courts before cutting their funding. Instead, they went with an across-the-board reduction that included not finding that the courts' requests were unreasonable or excessive.
Kubic said the fact that the courts have been able to operate so far this year without the extra money is proof that they really don't need it.
"We've proved our point," he said, noting that the bulk of the additional money will go toward raises for court employees.
Judge Dellick has argued that her staff is paid about 22 percent less than similarly situated employees in other counties.
bjackson@vindy.com