Mahoning commissioners pass $62M 2009 budget with big cuts to sheriff, prosecutor’s office

YOUNGSTOWN — The Mahoning County commissioners today approved a $62,841,000 full-year, general-fund budget for 2009.

The budget is $4,744,332 lower than last year’s general fund spending, which totaled $67,585,332.

Due to financial uncertainties, the county has operated until now on a first quarter temporary budget. Legally, a full-year budget had to be adopted by Wednesday.

A few categories showed significant gains over what was spent in them last year, most notably the Soldier’s Relief line item, which rose from $971,656 to $1,481,000, and the Veterans Services line item, which went from $339,018 to $563,000.

By law, those categories together received a half-mill of property tax, and they return unspent money each year to the general fund.

But most departments lost money. The sheriff’s department, by far the largest in the general fund, plummeted by about $3 million from $19,374,221 spent last year to $16,394,000 in this year’s budget.

Another big loser was the civil division of the prosecutor’s office, which was cut by 10 percent from the $999,702 it spent last year to $900,000 this year. The 911 center was cut from $928,201 to $800,000.

The board of elections, which spent $2,656,430 during 2008, which was a presidential election year, was cut in this off-year election budget to $1.3 million.

The probate court, which spent $762,859 last year, got $690,000 this year, which is substantially below the $915,715 Probate Judge Mark Belinky demanded in a judgment entry. Judge Belinky vowed to file a complaint in the 7th District Court of Appeals if his funding demand wasn’t met.

Another big loser was juvenile court, which spent $6,331,737 last year, but was allocated only $5.5 million this year for an $831,737 cut.

Besides adopting the budget, the commissioners authorized layoffs among nonunion employees whose salaries are paid from the county’s general fund.

For the complete story, see Wednesday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com