Recordpub.com - Portage looking to cut budget by $3.5 million: Layoffs, furloughs could be on the table

By Mike Sever

Record-Courier staff writer

Portage County’s 2010 general fund budget is still bleeding despite the latest round of meetings between commissioners and other elected officials.

Layoffs, furloughs and other job measures may be needed if elected officials don’t rein in the spending. Spending has to be cut more than $3.5 million to bring expenses in line with the $35,817,275 in revenues certified by the county budget commission for next year.

That’s about $2.5 million less than the general fund’s certification a year ago.

The budget commission expects tax revenues from a variety of sources to continue to be down next year, reflecting the slow economy. The commission consists of Auditor Janet Esposito, Prosecutor Victor Vigluicci and is headed by Treasurer Stephen Shanafelt.

In Tuesday’s series of eight meetings, the story was much the same. In general, elected officials have fallen short of the mark in attempts to hit the reduced budget targets set by commissioners.

“We basically went through and cut everything we could,” Common Pleas Court Judge John Enlow said Tuesday.

The courts have not added any new positions and employees haven’t been paid for overtime for some years, Judge Laurie Pittman said. “We basically tell them ‘you are salaried.’”

The bad news, Enlow said, is five or more murder trials could be heard next year, with additional costs exceeding $50,000.

“We have the statistics for a third (common pleas) judge,” Enlow said. “We know you can’t afford it. We have kept our head above water by using magistrates.”

Enlow seemed to warn commissioners off making any further cuts to court budgets.

“I don’t want to go to war, but we don’t see where we can cut any more,” Enlow said.

Commissioners have always tred lightly on court budgets because judges can issue court orders telling commissioners how much money to put into court budgets.

Judge Thomas Carnes said he and his staff combed through their budgets, cutting a total of $144,122. That’s still short of the $265,000 target set by commissioners.

Carnes oversees Probate and Juvenile courts and the juvenile probation department, with a combined 42 employees, of which nine are funded through grants.

Carnes said he is aware of the budget crisis and that Portage has been fortunate while other counties have had cutbacks earlier.

“If you want us to cut more it’s going to really affect how we do business,” he said. “I want to help the county, but I’m not sure we can go much lower.”

Last month, county commissioners gave other elected officials and department heads “balancing adjustments” or target amounts to be cut to balance the budget.

Some offices, such as the county treasurer, recorder, coroner and engineer met their targets.

The county sheriff’s office requested a budget of $12,383,919 or $2.28 million higher than the $10,102,508 target set by commissioners.

Portage County Sheriff David Doak, whose budget represents nearly a third of the county general fund, is scheduled for another budget review Monday afternoon.

Commissioners are looking at several scenarios to cut expenses next year, including layoffs or furloughs of employees.

State law allows unpaid furloughs up to 80 hours per fiscal year, which runs July 1 through June 30. That means workers could be furloughed up to 160 hours during calendar 2010.

Whether the county has layoffs or furloughs workers depends on the budget, commissioners have said.

How many layoffs, “depends on if they meet their targets,” Commissioner Maureen Frederick said.

Budget sessions continue today and commissioners said they plan to have a final package ready for adoption in early December.

3.	Posted by Dan Boyle November 20, 2009
	In my opinion. Cutting the budget from 12 mil and change to 10 mil and change for the new sheriff in town, is a big mistake. It seems to me,being a Brady Lake Asst. zoning inspector,I talk to the sheriff's dept. from time to time. There has been a lot of positive changes in the whole dept. Why stop forward positive motion? Especially when it could effect all of us.We all stand a chance of getting a drug dealing,thug in our neiborhood and could need some help. My experience with Dave Doak and that type of situation has been nothing but taking a bad situation and turning into something good. This next one is, maybe my own problem. The county leaders spent 4.5 mil. on a prosecutors office. The prosecutors DO NOT seem able to FIRE bad employees. I know I sound like a broken record. BBBUUUTTT that lack of firing has cost the tax payers millions in preventable law suits. This info is on the internet,just look. This is my story and Iam sticking to it. If you think Iam kidding call my shop. I do return phone calls. PS. Hey thin wudda yu think?

1.	Posted by s.swenson November 20, 2009
	I love how the commissioners now run to each department and ask them to cut their budgets after they have been on a "spend,spend and spend some more spree for years." The article states that Judge Enlow says "We have kept our head above water by using magistrates?" What is the difference between the monies paid to a magistrate vs. a judge? It can't be that much, I'd think everything else as far as cost is the same? I don't think that the courts should have to operate on a shoe string budget and what were those commissioners thinking when they build the new building for the prosecutors office? At the same time all that spending was going on KANES office over on the corner across from the court house sold for somewhere around $l00,000 and they could use that? No instead they have to add floors to another building at a cost exceeding 4 million bucks. The commissioners must have missed the news that for the past couple of years we are sliding head first into a recession, with employment and spending down. Nice to see that finally by the end of 2009 they commissioners have awoken and finally figured out it's time to start paying attention to spending. I've pondered where all the county money went that was garnered when people were refinancing over and over again and paying the same fees over and over again each time they refinanced? Guess they didn't save it for a rainy day.