Campbell looks to pare 2017 budget

January 26, 2017 at 12:02a.m.

CAMPBELL

City officials sat down with Tim Lintner of the Ohio auditor’s office Wednesday night, ready to hack away at the 2017 budget.

City Council passed the $9,812,837 budget last week, but had planned to make revisions because of a projected year-end deficit of close to $84,000 in the general fund.

Meanwhile, Council President George Levendis, who is chairman of the finance committee, has called for a freeze on nonessential spending. He said the freeze may continue for several months – until council is confident the annual budget will balance.

Finance Director Michael Evanson presented council with a revised 2017 budget Wednesday. That version includes about $167,600 in cuts across the board, so as to reduce total appropriations to $9,645,226.

Among the proposed cuts is a $30,000 annual reduction in overtime for the police department. The city paid $42,712 in police overtime in 2012, as compared to $79,620 in 2016.

“It just actually ran amok,” Evanson said, referring specifically to 2015 when police overtime spiked to $156,750.

Evanson’s projection also included a revenue uptick of about $200,000 due to increased tax collection, though Lintner said he believes that estimate is overly optimistic.

The finance director’s suggested cutbacks would reduce the general-fund appropriations from $3,156,569 to $2,998,958. That figure is in line with Lintner’s recommendations that the city spend no more than $3 million from the general fund.

“Everything has to be needs – no wants,” Levendis said of the amended appropriations, which are awaiting council’s vote. “There is no wiggle room in this budget.”

Lintner acknowledged the city’s budget is already tight. In the interest of Campbell’s long-term financial health, he said, it might be necessary to take steps like cutting services or asking voters to approve a new tax.

“This isn’t an affluent neighborhood,” he said. “We don’t see a lot of unnecessary spending. There’s not a lot of wasted manpower here. People [city employees] aren’t just sitting around doing nothing.”

The city was in state-designated fiscal emergency from 2004 to 2013.