Court gets $600K; had asked for $821K

One council member wants to see if the municipal court could be disbanded.
By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
GIRARD -- City council has approved appropriations for city operations in 2006, but the amount issued to the municipal court is a little less than requested.
Council unanimously approved legislation for appropriations giving the court $600,000 with which to operate next year. The court, city officials said, requested $821,000 for the 2006 fiscal year.
Judge Michael Bernard ordered the city in November to appropriate an additional $49,000 over the court's 2005 appropriations to cover court expenses. Council refused, and the judge took the matter to court. The city was eventually made to honor the judge's order.
Sam Zirafi, city auditor, said the city's general fund will be $750,000 in the red by year's end, and the court will have used between $250,000 and $300,000 more than it generated. If the court had not spent above what it brought in, he said, more money could have gone to reducing the city's debt.
Concerns
City leaders have expressed concern that Judge Bernard may demand additional funding in 2006 -- possibly leading to more court action. Councilman Joe Christopher said he thinks the judge will use the appropriated $600,000 then demand more.
Mayor James Melfi said the court must learn to spend no more than it generates.
"Our citizens pay 2 percent income tax. They deserve the best police and fire protection for that 2 percent. Unfortunately, they continue to pay for a municipal court with a huge chunk of that tax," he said. "We cannot have that in the future if we are to emerge from fiscal emergency."
The court appropriation and allocations made to all other city departments must be approved by the Girard Financial Planning and Supervision Commission. The commission oversees all the city's financial decisions while Girard is in fiscal emergency.
Melfi said the commission may place all city departments, including the court, on a monthly appropriation schedule. Each department, he said, would get a monthly budget based on last year's revenue.
"The logic is to keep budgetary reigns on all departments in particularly the court," he said.
Seeking alternatives
Some council members, however, are looking at a different alternative. Councilman Tom Seidler asked the law director to look into the city's obligation to the court and what would be needed to remove the court from the city entirely.
"If the municipal court is going to continue to be a drain on the budget, we have no option than to look for alternative measures," he said. "One of those measures could be disbanding the court."
Council also will be discussing pay raises for the police and fire chiefs at the next regular council meeting. Councilman Joe Shelby said both chiefs are past due for pay raises. The city has seen across-the-board pay freezes since entering fiscal emergency in 2001.
Shelby said both chiefs have subordinates making more than them in base salary. He would like the chiefs to each make at least one dollar a year more in base pay than their top subordinates.
The police chief has been paid an annual salary of $47,000 since 2000. The fire chief has been paid an annual salary of $48,250 since 2001.
Melfi said the city's general fund deficit does not allow for pay raises. "When we leave fiscal emergency, at that time we will entertain the idea of pay raises," he said.
jgoodwin@vindy.com