Cuyahoga County staffing levels questioned

CLEVELAND (AP) — The county that includes Cleveland has more workers on its staff and a lower level of productivity than other populous counties in Ohio, according to a newspaper analysis.

The audit, published Sunday by Cleveland’s Plain Dealer, analyzed payrolls and other data obtained through public records requests from five counties that include some of Ohio’s largest cities — Cincinnati, Columbus, Dayton and Toledo.

In Cuyahoga County, which is the state’s most populous and includes Cleveland, the newspaper found that some county departments are more efficient than their counterparts in other counties, and some are not.

The analysis showed that employees at the offices of the county’s sheriff, the engineer and the prosecutor manage heavier workloads than their counterparts. But the county has large staffs for its treasurer and auditor and spends more than the others to process a person’s tax bill or to assess the value of a property.

It also showed that Cuyahoga County officials have kept employees on staff to do auditing, payment processing, cleaning and other jobs that some counties contract out at a lower cost.

They say having noncontract staff provides better service for residents and good jobs with benefits for those employees.

“We don’t care what other counties do,” said Tom Ford, a spokesman for the county commissioners. “You can’t equate the quality of service with the number of employees.”