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Boardman tightens up budget
By Kalea Hall
boardman
Boardman Township has tightened its 2014 budget after losing about $700,000 from the inheritance tax it no longer will receive from the state.
“[With] the inheritance tax, we received collections twice a year, and they were settlements of the estates,” township Administrator Jason Loree said.
A change in state policy led to the loss of the inheritance tax.
Overall, the total budget for fiscal year 2014 is $17,887,344, and the total revenue expected is $16,940,177. Approximately $4,292,962 is for operational costs, and about $13,594,382 of the budget goes to salaries, wages and benefits.
There is an approximate $5,033,970 carryover from last year to cover the gap.
The cut “affects us significantly,” fiscal officer Bill Leicht said. “We are also looking upwards of a 20 per- cent increase without health care costs, so we had to tighten things up.”
The township restructured collective-bargaining agreements. Also, not all the items on department heads’ wish lists could be accommodated, Loree said.
“We did make some administrative cuts,” Leicht said. “We had some plans for the township that had to go on the back burner.”
The township trustees approved the budget late last month.
“Seventy-six percent of our budget goes to salaries. Wages and fringe benefits cost a major portion,” Leight said.
The police department is by far the biggest expense for the township, Leight said. After the police come the fire department, road department and the administration, and the rest is for operations.
Last year, two levies passed in the November election. One was a 3.2-mill renewal general-fund levy that brings in approximately $1,101,894 annually; and the other was a 2.2-mill additional police and fire levy that generates about $2,065,411.
For 2014, the police department has a budget of $8,093,492. A large portion of those funds are used to pay salaries and benefits, and the rest is used for departmental needs. Each year varies for how much spending the department has because funds also are received through criminal investigations.
The fire department, on the other hand, is able to spend about 10 percent of its approximately $4,441,649 budget as discretionary money. Since the fire department receives only 35 percent of a 2.2-mill additional police and fire levy, it feeds off the general fund and received a 3 percent cut to its budget due to the lack of inheritance-tax revenue.
The road department has a $2,904,512 budget.
Typically, the township has a $4 million carryover to build in for the next year.
“In January, February and March we get no income, so in order for us to get through that we have to have about $4 million and we have been able to carry that over,” Leight said. “This year is going to be difficult [to carry over].”