Boardman Township Revenue

Without more revenue, the township will spend $4.9 million more than it takes in.

By DENISE DICK

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

BOARDMAN — Township officials acknowledge employees are well-paid but contend they’ve reduced the payroll through attrition and continue to cut costs.

Township officials are asking voters Nov. 6 to approve a 4.1-mill levy that would generate about $4 million annually for five years.

It would cost the owner of a $100,000 home $125.56 per year, and the owner of a $200,000 home, $251.13 annually.

“I’ll support it,” said Bill Foster, a 20-year resident, who paused for a moment during his daily stroll along East Golf Drive in Mill Creek Park. “I think it’s for the benefit of the township.”

But another man walking along the same trail sees it differently.

“I’m not in favor of it,” said the man, who didn’t want his name used. “Government is expensive. There’s plenty of room for them to cut.”

Layoffs loom if the levy fails, township officials warn. On the other hand, trustees passed a motion last week to replace two police officers if the levy passes.

With a payroll last year that totaled more than $9.6 million and about 180 employees, Boardman is the largest township in the Mahoning Valley. And the salaries it pays its employees, especially safety forces, make it a destination employer for many in the area. For 2006, the township spent about $17.6 million for operating expenses, according to fiscal officer William Leicht.

Administrator Jason Loree said that the township’s pay is competitive and that attracts quality applicants when a position needs filled.

“The last time we had an opening in the fire department, we had 1,000 applicants,” he said.

For years, the township has balanced its budget by dipping into its reserve fund made fat over the years by inheritance taxes.

But that money is running out.

Loree said that without an influx of additional revenue, the township will finish 2007 with a nearly $4.9 million deficit between revenue and expenses. The reserve will cover the difference but deplete that amount to about $1.6 million by year’s end without new money.

“We have had a unique situation in having a reserve fund, unlike other communities,” Loree said.

Elaine Mancini, trustees chairwoman, agreed.

“It’s not like we’re giving this up willingly,” she said.

For example, when the time comes for contract negotiations with police and fire unions, the process goes to an arbitrator for final determination if the two sides can’t reach an agreement. The arbitrator views money in the township’s cash reserve as an ability to pay and often issues a decision, which is binding, establishing the union’s pay increase. Under Ohio law, police and fire aren’t permitted to strike.

The township in the last few years has cut spending on capital expenditures, Mancini said, down from about $200,000 per department a few years ago to nothing this year. Department heads have been issued directives to watch overtime and employees who have left township employment in the last year haven’t been replaced, she said.

The township employs 165 people now compared to about 180 in 2006. The police department, for example, is down from 63 officers last year to 55. Those who have resigned or retired haven’t been replaced, and two other officers are expected to resign for jobs elsewhere in the next few weeks.

Besides the eight police officers, two firefighters and two road department employees who have resigned or retired and not been replaced, others who have left township employment and whose positions haven’t been filled have come in the administration and management ranks. In some cases, it’s saved the township money, and in others it hasn’t.

The information technology coordinator, who resigned in November 2006, hasn’t been replaced. The township has been paying Data Recovery Services, DRS, of North Lima to do the work since then. The IT coordinator made nearly $42,000 last year. So far in 2007, the township has paid DRS nearly $54,000.

Former administrator Curt Seditz, whom trustees terminated in March 2006, was to earn about $78,000 that year. Trustees hired Loree at an annual salary of $60,000.

But with his severance package, Seditz earned about $64,802 last year. Plus, the township contracted with Cleveland firm Clemans, Nelson & Associates Inc. to assist with contract negotiations and other employee matters.

So far this year, the township has paid that firm about $39,500.

Former police Chief Jeffrey Patterson, who resigned in July 2006, had an annual salary of about $80,000. Trustees hired Chief Patrick Berarducci at a 2007 salary of $93,200.

When the administrator’s secretary and the deputy administrator, who earned about $37,225 and $24,511 in 2006, respectively, resigned last year, the township hired an assistant to the administrator for about $38,500 to fill some of the duties of both positions. The secretary resigned earlier this year, and the deputy administrator resigned in May 2006. The deputy administrator’s 2006 salary was to be about $48,000, so combining the two positions saved about $46,725.

“We are making government smaller,” Loree said.

Health care cost also are a concern: The township pays $13,000 per year for health insurance for employees on a family plan and about $5,200 for those with single coverage.

Within the last few years, all but two employee unions, those representing firefighters and police rank officers, started paying contributions toward health care. The percentages vary depending upon the union.

The township is in negotiations with both unions.

“I’ve been charged by the board to negotiate contributions to health care” from the two unions not paying it, Loree said.

Diane Pallai, a lifelong township resident, says she fully supports the levy. “I think it’s needed and that it’s very, very important,” said Pallai, who was walking in Boardman Park with her dog.

Pallai knows several township firefighters who would likely lose their jobs if voters reject the levy.

“This community has grown so incredibly in a short period of time,” she said. “I think it’s very important that the levy passes.”

Loree explained that the township provides services through its employees, so that’s the only place to make substantial cuts. He emphasized that the levy would be used to maintain services.

“The public gets the services they’re willing to pay for,” Mancini said.

Though Boardman employees earn more than their counterparts in surrounding suburban areas, she doesn’t think it’s a fair comparison. “We are the commercial center of Mahoning County,” Mancini said.

U.S. Census figures put the township’s population in 2006 at 40,361. That number swells to about 100,000 during the day because of people working, eating and shopping in the commercial areas, she said.

During the holiday shopping season, the number is even larger, Mancini said. That impacts services, she said. Having more cars on the road means more wear and tear. Having more people also means more calls for the police and fire departments.

Austintown’s 2006 population totaled 36,137, according to 2006 Census data. Austintown employed about 130 people in 2006 including seasonal employees and 30 part-time firefighters. Payroll that year totaled about $4.8 million.

Mancini listed Jackson Township, in Stark County, near Canton, as a township similar to Boardman in terms of size and commercial area.

That township had a population of 42,000 last year and employed 226 people with a total payroll of nearly $8.4 million. Boardman’s 2006 payroll totaled about $9.6 million.

Jackson’s number includes a park department, which is a separate entity in Boardman. Boardman Park operates on its own levies, paying its employees from those funds, not money from the township.

Unlike Boardman, Jackson’s police and fire dispatching is provided by a private company, and the township pays for the work rather than paying employees. How much it pays for that service wasn’t available. In Boardman, payroll paid last year to dispatchers totaled about $457,000.

Boardman last asked voters for a new levy in 1995.

Leicht said in that time, the township has realized $200 million in commercial construction, 1,000 single-family home starts and added 10 miles of new roads.

“People need to understand, this isn’t about the trustees,” Mancini said.

“It’s about the township. The levy is needed.”