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2015 budget in Austintown similar to 2014
By ROBERT CONNELLY
AUSTINTOWN
The township’s recently approved budget, about $17.9 million, is similar to a year ago.
The biggest difference is that a year ago, the township received the second of two $1 million payments for Hollywood Gaming at Mahoning Valley Race Course. That influx of funds helped pay off a communications-system debt and paved more roads.
Township Administrator Mike Dockry said Austintown spent roughly $1 million on paving roads last year, and this year it’s closer to about $770,000.
Paving also is affected by higher rock-salt prices. In the gasoline-tax fund, the township already has spent $278,576 out of an appropriated $342,000 for road salt this year. “That only has to cover November and December and” in those three months there “should be a lot less [used] than the three months of January, February and March,” Dockry explained.
This year, the police department’s salaries are $2.5 million of its budget, with a contribution to the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System of $550,000. That’s less than last year’s $2.618 million in salaries, with $583,000 allocated for OPERS contribution.
John Mashiska, assistant fiscal officer, noted that the police department and the dispatch workers received a 2 percent increase April 1 due to a new contract. Those contracts are with the Fraternal Order of Police, for officers, and the Ohio Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, for the dispatchers.
Overall, the police department has a budget of $5.2 million in operation costs, higher than 2014’s $4.9 million. The fire department has been allocated $3.1 million compared to $3.56 million in 2014, which is due to federal grants ending without further grants coming in.
The fire department salaries break down is as follows: full-time firefighters, $1.3 million this year compared with $1.2 million last year; full-time employees and the fire chief dropped from $93,476 to $50,000 this year; and part-time firefighters earned $276,382 a year ago, and $240,000 has been appropriated this year.
The OPERS contribution for the fire department is budgeted for $45,000 this year compared to $64,181 last year. Fire Chief Andy Frost III said the change in the full-time employee category was a retirement in 2014.
Though Austintown trustees unanimously approved appropriations by department at a March 23 meeting, The Vindicator did not receive a detailed, line-item version of this year’s budget until Thursday.
Austintown officials continue to have conversations with state legislators and other racino communities on a $500,000 racino payment this year that was promised in the original racino legislation.
“There’s that guess that we may get the $500,000 [racino payment], but we did not include that in the budget because that’s not guaranteed,” said fiscal officer Laura Wolfe said.