AUSTINTOWN Financial report has a ray of optimism

The township stands to make thousands from the sale of zoning permits.
By IAN HILL
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
AUSTINTOWN -- The financially strapped township can end the year in the black even if the proposed 2.5-mill police levy is not approved by voters in March, township Clerk Michael Kurish says.
Without the levy, however, the township won't be able to rehire police and part-time firefighters laid off last year in an effort to save money, Kurish said.
The clerk discussed the township's financial outlook after Monday night's trustees meeting. Earlier this month, he predicted that the township would have a $150,000 deficit at the end of this year.
Kurish said that since then, he has reviewed township finances further and has taken into account that the township could make thousands of dollars through the sale of zoning permits for the construction of a proposed $26 million middle school on South Raccoon Road. In addition, trustees have estimated that the township could gain between $18,000 and $108,000 this year through Mahoning County's efforts to collect unpaid real estate taxes.
Kurish also noted that the township will continue to save money as a result of the budget cuts and layoffs made last year. Trustees also are continuing to make budget cuts, and they said Monday they will look at revising the $15,000 deal with the school board to operate Channel 19, the township's public-access television station.
Loan
As a result, the township should be able to pay off the balance of the $600,000 loan it carried over from last year and end this year without a deficit, Kurish said. The township also has $100,000 set aside to help repay the loan, he said. In addition, Kurish said the township has $88,000 in carry-over funds from last year that can help cover the loan.
Kurish said he did not have an exact estimate on how much the township would have at the end of this year. But he stressed the savings and additional revenue won't provide the township with enough money to bring back the laid off police and part-time firefighters, Kurish said.
Trustees have placed a 2.5-mill levy on the March ballot that would allow the township to collect $1.4 million each year for police. If the levy is approved, trustees will be able to rehire laid off police officers and allocate more general fund money to the fire department.
They then can rehire laid off part-time firefighters.
Oles
Trustee Lisa Oles, who took office Jan. 1, voted against a resolution last week to keep the levy on the ballot. The resolution had no legal implications, as trustees had already voted to have the levy on the ballot in December, before Oles took office.
During her campaign, Oles promised to rehire the laid-off police and firefighters without increasing the tax burden on residents. She has proposed raising additional revenue for the township by leasing a portion of fire station No. 3 to an ambulance company and by selling nine acres of township property on Woodridge Drive.
Oles stressed, however, that the property would have to be sold for more than $10,000 an acre, the purchase price offered by the Leonard Kirtz school
She also is working to determine if the township could save money by buying water from Niles, instead of from Youngstown as it does now.
Kurish and trustees David Ditzler and Bo Pritchard noted that the township discussed buying water from Niles several times in the 1990s. The stumbling block was the cost of buying and maintaining waterlines in the township that are owned by Youngstown.
Ditzler noted, however, that he has no problem re-examining the issue.