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Brace for ‘difficult’ 2010, warn officials
More county employee givebacks will be needed in the new year, the administrator says.
YOUNGSTOWN — Mahoning County commissioners adopted a temporary general fund budget totaling just under $5 million for the first month of 2010.
In the $4,999,739 January-only budget, which commissioners adopted Tuesday, each county department has been allocated 1‚Ñ12 of its 2009 spending through Dec. 27.
During January, officials will attempt to negotiate additional concessions from county employees to balance the 2010 budget, said Anthony T. Traficanti, chairman of the county commissioners. “Until we do that, we do not want to put a full budget in place,” for the entire year, Traficanti said.
Due to the recession, general-fund revenues have been only $57.2 million in 2009 — about $2.2 million less than expected — and they are projected to be about $57 million next year, said George J. Tablack, county administrator. “It will be a difficult year,” he said of 2010. “Next year is projected to be worse than this year.”
To put the numbers in perspective, Tablack noted that general fund revenues were about $66 million in 2008.
Sales tax revenue and interest income are each down $2 million from 2008 levels, he added.
Carol McFall, the county’s chief deputy auditor, said real estate tax collections have declined due to delinquencies, and revenues from the state are below the state’s expectations. “We’re all going to have to look for more ways to cut costs,” McFall said.
McFall agreed with Tablack’s assessment of the county’s financial predicament, but said having only a one-month budget will impose a hardship on the county’s financial accounting system and probably won’t allow enough time to negotiate concessions with the county’s labor unions. “It’s hard to make the wheels spin that fast in county government,” she observed.
General fund spending will be about $61.5 million in 2009, Tablack said, adding that he believes the county will have cash balances to offset this year’s $4.3 million shortfall. “But, our carry-in will be minimal at best,” he said of leftover funds to be carried into 2010.
“We need concessions across the board,” Tablack said. A 5 percent to 10 percent spending cut beyond reductions made this year is likely necessary to achieve a balanced budget by the end of next year, he added.
Some of the concessions negotiated in 2009 will expire June 30, 2010, and they need to be extended through the end of 2010, he said.
The concessions would include continued cuts in work hours through unpaid rolling holidays and increased employee contributions to their health-care premiums, Tablack said.
The common pleas trial court has agreed to have its employees increase their contributions from about 5 percent to 7.5 percent of their health-care premiums, but that is still 2.5 percent less than the 10 percent contributions that have been made by most other county workers for years, he added.
One bright spot in next year’s budget is that the county expects to save $1.5 million to $1.6 million because the 2010 calendar will have the usual 26 paydays instead of the 27 that fell this year, Tablack observed.
To stabilize the county’s general fund revenue, the voters must renew in May the half-percent sales tax they defeated in November. Public hearings on the tax renewal are set for 6:30 p.m. Monday at McMahon Hall at the Mill Creek MetroParks Farm in Canfield and at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 11 at the Covelli Centre in downtown Youngstown.
The general fund is the county’s main operating fund, which supports the sheriff’s office, courts, prosecutor, elections board and many other county functions.
milliken@vindy.com