Local-government workers hit hard by budget squeezes

Associated Press

Cities and counties around Ohio are planning to shed government workers as falling tax revenues squeeze their budgets.

Some of the 1,290 government workers in Clermont County near Cincinnati may be facing unpaid leave. Officials are trying to negotiate furloughs in union contracts, Commissioner R. Scott Croswell III said.

“There is no other place to cut right now,” he said.

City hall in Dayton expects to lay off up to 30 workers, and the Montgomery County sheriff is thinking of parting with as many as 23 deputies to carve $2 million out of the county budget. Dayton City Manager Rashad Young says the layoffs would help the city eliminate a $13 million budget deficit.

“We’re bleeding,” Mayor Rhine McLin said.

In Warren, Mayor Michael J. O’Brien has announced plans to lay off 40 workers. And the county that includes Toledo will lay off 20 employees Jan. 1 in hopes of saving about $1.1 million next year.

Cities and counties generally rely on income and sales taxes for their operating budgets. But the slumping economy has resulted in job losses and less consumer spending, causing tax revenue to decline.

Not all Ohio cities and counties are slashing their budgets, but those that are typically are closing parks and swimming pools, said John Mahoney, deputy director of Ohio Municipal League. Many governments are just looking for ways to get past this upcoming budget, he said.

“But if it gets any worse, it’s going to be very, very tough,” he said.

In Clermont County, commissioners have approved a $52.5 million budget for general fund operations in 2009, a decrease of 2.2 percent from estimated spending this year. Cuts totaling $1.1 million will mean no pay increases for nonunion employees, and some job vacancies will go unfilled, County Administrator David Spinney said.

The county’s budget will leave the sheriff’s office an estimated $624,500 short of the money needed to fight crime and operate the 320-bed jail, said Sheriff A.J. Rodenberg.

“This would be the first time in the history of Clermont County any layoffs had to occur in the sheriff’s office because of budgetary issues,” he said.

However, Rodenberg hopes attrition will limit any layoffs, which he said will be a last resort.

Because it’s unlikely the economy will improve soon, the county could head into a downward financial spiral unless major spending cuts are made, Croswell said.

“We’re going to face Armageddon,” he said. “I’d rather face it with a few dollars in the bank than completely broke.”