Mahoning County carries $4.4 million over from last year

Mahoning County carries $4.4 million over from last year

YOUNGSTOWN

Mahoning County’s actual general fund carryover from 2011 to 2012 is about $4.4 million, according to Carol L. McFall, chief deputy county auditor.

That’s considerably higher than the $3.1 million to $3.5 million her office projected last month.

“We’re always very conservative in our projection,” she said, noting that projections change “on a day-to-day basis.”

McFall, a certified public accountant, attributed the gain in carryover to growth in sales tax collections, a year-end surge in court and land transfer fee revenue, and a $100,000 year-end rent payment from the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation for its occupancy of the second floor of the county’s Children Services Board building at 222 W. Federal St.

Another contributing factor is the county commissioners’ instruction to the purchasing department to close all unnecessary purchase orders, especially in the general fund, at year’s end, McFall said. “If they didn’t incur the expense, that P.O. was getting liquidated,” she said.

McFall said Wednesday that she expects the county’s budget commission to certify the $4.4 million carryover. That commission consists of Auditor Michael V. Sciortino, Treasurer Daniel R. Yemma and Prosecutor Paul J. Gains.

The $4.4 million would be added to the $49.6 million general fund budget the county commissioners approved Dec. 22.

The general fund is the county’s main operating fund, which pays for the operations of the county jail, courts, prosecutor’s office, 911 emergency dispatching center, and a host of other central government functions.