BOARDMAN Meeting about township finances widens to several topics

Two trustees object to using inheritance taxes for operating expenses.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
BOARDMAN -- A meeting where township finances were to be reviewed produced a trustee striking the gavel to quiet the township fiscal officer and his supporters and the fiscal officer calling for the trustee to lead by example.
William D. Leicht, fiscal officer, had been asked by trustees to present a report on the township's financial state at the trustees meeting Monday, which was shown live on Boardman Schools Television Network.
In that report, Leicht said that the township hasn't asked residents for any new money since 1995. Since that time, the township has grown with both commercial and residential building and added 40 employees.
He said that in 1999, trustees developed a strategic plan -- which wasn't put into writing -- that the township didn't want to reduce services, preferring to spend down cash reserves before asking voters to approve more money.
Leicht said that at that time, he was instructed by trustees to inform them two years in advance of when that money was projected to run out. Much of the township's reserves come from inheritance taxes.
In 2003, he alerted then-trustees that he was expecting money to run out by the end of 2005. The panel instituted a hiring freeze, which remains in effect, and reduced from $200,000 to $100,000 the annual amount spent per department for capital expenditures, Leicht said.
In 2005, the township received an unexpected $7.9 million in inheritance tax. That helped stave off the need for a levy until 2008.
Trustees Robyn Gallitto and Kathy Miller object to spending the inheritance money for operating expenses.
If not for the unexpected inheritance taxes received by the township, they would have outspent the revenues years ago, Gallitto said.
Another matter
Leicht then said he wanted to respond to a letter to the editor that Gallitto had written to The Vindicator last week in which she talks about the township's operating at a $2 million deficit per year.
Miller said it wasn't an appropriate matter to discuss and urged Leicht to write a letter to rebut Gallitto's letter.
Gallitto said the discussion should focus on the financial presentation. Some members of the audience yelled that they wanted to hear Leicht's response, prompting Gallitto to rap the gavel.
After trustees adjourned to executive session, Leicht gathered several people who remained in the high school performing arts center to give his response to Gallitto's letter.
He said that he agrees the township needs to put its strategic plan in writing. Leicht also said there are places where the township may be able to save money.
"Attorney Gallitto has a great opportunity to lead by example," he said.
Insurance issue
Her family has both single and family health insurance policies through the township. Gallitto's husband is a police sergeant and has a family policy. She has a separate policy for herself.
If Gallitto dropped that single policy, it would save the township $4,100, Leicht said. He also estimated it would save about $20,000 annually if the township returned to running legal advertisements in the Boardman News instead of The Vindicator, a change that was made earlier this year.
He also was critical of proposals to pay up to $70,000 to the state auditor's office to conduct a township performance audit and to pay about $60,000 to a consultant to develop a comprehensive township plan.
Neither of those proposals has been approved by trustees.
In other business, Gallitto and Miller voted against a motion to spend $8,500 from the Law Enforcement Trust Fund, money awarded to the township from funds seized from drug activity, to transfer titles of a 2000 truck and a 2002 sport utility vehicle to the police department.
Both vehicles were seized from people involved in drug activity. Capt. Jack Nichols, who attended Monday's meeting in Police Chief Jeffrey Patterson's stead, said the vehicles would replace older vehicles in the township's unmarked fleet.
The cars that would be replaced would then go to auction, he said.
Mancini was in favor of the motion.
Gallitto said that the department already has nine unmarked vehicles that are designated spares and there hasn't been an auction since December.
Miller said the township is trying to get a handle on the number of vehicles it has and she doesn't believe it's a good time to add two more.