Juvenile court seeks $6.69M

Fuel and other costs are escalating, judge says.

YOUNGSTOWN — The Mahoning County Juvenile Court has requested $6,691,252 from the county’s general fund for 2008.

That figure is less than the $6,732,632 it requested for 2007 because the difference has been covered by other funding sources, including grants and state and federal funds, said Court Administrator Anthony D’Apolito.

The commissioners will likely actually give the juvenile court only about $6.1 million to $6.2 million from the general fund for this year, he added. To date, it has received more than $6 million of that total.

Court personnel appeared before the county commissioners for a Thursday hearing on the court’s 2008 budget request. The general fund is the county’s main operating fund.

If the court achieves savings during 2008 that allow it to operate on less money than what is budgeted from the general fund, the unused money will return to that fund, as it has done in the past, D’Apolito said.

The court is asking for more money next year than it got this year because of escalating costs for items such as heating and vehicle fuel, employee health care, paper and postage, said Judge Theresa Dellick of the juvenile court.

Judge Dellick noted that her budget covers her court and its probation and clerk’s offices, plus round-the-clock costs of operating its juvenile detention center.