MAHONING COUNTY Officials face host of budget dilemmas

The first of two hearings on imposing the sales tax is Monday.
YOUNGSTOWN -- Budget requests from Mahoning County general fund departments far surpass the amount of money the county will have available to spend in 2005.
The county budget commission -- the prosecutor, treasurer and auditor -- has certified the county will have $34.2 million to spend next year. But budget requests from department heads total more than $57 million, about what the 2004 budget was.
That means when budget hearings start in January, Commissioner David Ludt and new Commissioners Anthony Traficanti and John McNally IV will have to pare $23 million in requests. The budgets are basically "wish lists" officeholders and appointed heads make for spending.
Commissioners are expected to pass an interim budget for the first quarter of 2005 before the end of the year. That will be among the last duties of Commissioners Ed Reese and Vicki Sherlock, who did not run for re-election and will leave at the end of the year. Ludt now becomes the county's senior commissioner.
Sales tax defeat
At the crux of the matter is the loss of the half-percent sales tax, which brought in $13 million to $14 million and made up a quarter of the county's revenue.
Voters defeated the sales tax in November, but commissioners may decide to impose the tax.
Commissioners will have public hearings on the tax at 10 a.m. Monday and Friday in the commissioners' conference room in the basement of the county courthouse on Market Street.
If commissioners impose the tax, the county would have about $47 million to spend next year.
Joseph Caruso, assistant county administrator for the commissioners, said money from the defeated sales tax will continue to come in through April, but unless the commissioners impose the tax, it will come off the books Dec. 31.
Caruso said that because sales tax revenue will continue coming in from this year, there is a chance the 2005 spending plan may go above $34.2 million. The tax revenue, however, won't be nearly enough to meet the requests.
Commissioners have until April 1 to pass a full-year budget.
Caruso produced a tentative list of requests submitted to the county's Office of Management and Budget.
Department requests
Not all the budget requests have been compiled -- those missing are Juvenile Court and Data Processing -- but they are expected to be in the OMB in the next few days, Caruso said.
Sheriff Randall Wellington received nearly $12 million for this year. His request for 2005 is about $17 million.
Wellington already has laid off several deputies, and he plans to lay off more. By state mandate, the sheriff is responsible for staffing the county jail and serving the courts.
Sheriffs throughout the years, however, have provided protection to the county's rural areas that have no police departments.
The largest budget decrease, about $4.5 million, came from the elimination of the special revenue sharing program the county started when the sales tax that expires in December was approved. The county shared that money with local governments for projects such as road resurfacing and economic development.
The trial division of the common pleas courts has requested less money for 2005. The courts received $2,216,699 this year, but the request is for $2,195,065.
The Probate Court also has asked for less money next year. The court received $941,624 in 2004, but has requested $869,270.
Another department that has requested a big boost is the Soldiers Relief Commission. It received $830,271,00 this year, but has asked for $1.5 million.
Caruso explained statutory mandates require that 0.5 mill of property tax valuation go to the commission.
"We have to budget for the increase because the commission is entitled to it," Caruso said. Generally, however, the commission doesn't spend all the money to which it is entitled, and the leftover is returned to the general fund, he said.
About $1 million of the $1.5 million goes to public assistance for eligible county veterans.
Impact
Layoffs in all departments will likely take place next year, but the dilemma is when. And that probably won't be done until after all budgets are submitted and budget hearings held, Caruso said.
He added that the longer layoffs are delayed, the more people will have to be laid off to save the same amount of money.
Auditor George Tablack urged commissioners in November to pass a full-year budget before the end of this year so elected and appointed officials will know how deeply to cut their staffs.
Tablack has said the county spends about $1 million per week. With the reduced income from the sales tax loss, that figure will be cut to about $750,000 a week, meaning that unless drastic cuts in personnel are made, the county will be spending $250,000 it doesn't have.
The county has 675 employees paid from the general fund, which is down from the 723 on the public payroll in 2003. The county had 760 employees in 1996.
The county has another half-percent sales tax in place that generates the same $13 million to $14 million. That tax expires in 2007.