The Geauga County Commissioners office will work toward shortening the length of time that the county will carry debt from the new county office building and will try to avoid the issuance of any additional debt, according to Budget and Finance Manager Adrian Gorton.
The process for determining the upcoming budget begins in August, when the county’s budget commission certifies 2023 revenues by fund. Appropriations for each fund cannot exceed the certified resources for that fund.
“Whatever we show as an unencumbered balance becomes the beginning balance of the next year and, together with those revenues, becomes our total resources,” Mr. Gorton said. “The County Commissioners then appropriate those funds to the county departments. The total amount cannot exceed the total amount of those resources.”
Resources in next year’s general fund total $39.5 million, with an estimated $36.4 million coming from revenue. The general fund’s minimum estimated carryover balance is $3.1 million.
“It’s going to be considerably more than that, but that’s because of the unused appropriations that end up going back into the balance of the fund,” Mr. Gorton said.
Of that $36.4 million in revenue, almost half comes from sales tax, with the remaining 53.31% coming from nine other sources.
The State of Ohio charges sales tax at a rate of 5.75% and allows counties the option to tax up to 2.25%, for a maximum of 8%. The average sales-tax rate in Ohio counties is 7.22%. Four of the state’s 88 counties have a lower sales tax rate than Geauga County’s 6.75%, and about 14 share the same rate. Seven counties have a rate above 7.25%, including Cuyahoga County, at the maximum rate of 8%.
A benefit of Geauga’s rate is that many “people come to our county in order to save some sales-tax dollars, other than vehicles,” which are taxed by residence, Mr. Gorton said.
Forty-seven percent, or $17 million, comes to Geauga from sales tax; 24.23% from real-estate taxes; 7.46% from department fees and fines; 6.87% from property-transfer tax; 4.12% from grants, county-auction proceeds and miscellaneous sources; 2.75% from casino tax; 2.22% from local government tax; 2.14% from prisoner housing; 1.92% from cost allocation; and 1.61% from interest income.
Prisoner housing, revenue generated by housing inmates from other areas at the county jail, has decreased significantly over the last couple of years, Mr. Gorton said. In November, the county was down by about $1.5 million in prisoner-housing revenue from the high it experienced in 2018.
Expenses in 2023 for all funds are projected at $127,872,944, which is up about $1.8 million from last year, Mr. Gorton said. Expenses in the general fund total $39.5 million and $43.5 million with general-fund line-item requests.
About 38% of operating expenses in the general fund go toward public safety, which includes the county coroner, sheriff and building departments; 35% goes to the legislative and executive branches of government, which includes the county auditor, commissioners, archives and records, prosecutor, recorder, treasurer, Automatic Data Processing board, maintenance, planning and board of elections; and 17% goes to the judicial branch. The remaining 9.2%, or $3.3 million, funds miscellaneous expenses, including human services and the Portage-Geauga County Juvenile Detention Center.
Recent revenue certifications denied by the budget commission will make next year’s beginning cash balance higher than was anticipated, Mr. Gorton said. Pending requests for funding by county departments – including operating, capital transfers and debt retirement – total $8.4 million.
Pending requests for funding include: $2 million in capital transfers; $1.5 million for debt retirement; $1.16 million for the ADP board, $1.16 million to the sheriff for vehicles and technology; $834,327 to the board of elections for unresolved issues with the space the commissioners provided to it the new county office building.
Staffing challenges remain in the future as well as the assessment and rehabilitation of some old buildings and sale of old buildings and property.
The commissioners thanked Mr. Gorton for his presentation. Commissioner Ralph Spidalieri remarked on the county’s fortunate financial situation, especially as it compares to other counties.
“You just hope that it continues,” Mr. Gorton said. “You’ve got to see that there are warning signs out there.”
Mr. Gorton cited “inflation, a looming recession, interest rates that continue to climb, staggering national debt and a sustained high level of spending at the federal level” as “warning signs” that cannot continue without ultimately slowing the overall economy of the country, state and county.
“Any sort of effort at this point to bring those things into check will also likely cause significant strain as well,” Mr. Gorton said. “This is why the commissioners continue to push for conservative budgeting and an effort to get the general fund out of debt and avoid additional debt as much as possible.”
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