ST. CLAIRSVILLE - An ugly picture was painted Wednesday afternoon before a packed house of Belmont County Department heads, who were told by county Auditor Joseph Pappano that general fund receipts could fall more than $2 million short by year's end.
Pappano warned county officials to tighten their belts and hope for improvements to the sluggish economy. Otherwise, he said, county departments will be facing layoffs in the future.
The auditor also recommended that a new levy should be considered next year in order to generate money to operate the new Belmont County Jail addition.
This week, the county auditor has been conducting budget hearings for cities, villages and other publicly funded entities in the county. During Wednesday's budget hearing for the county, the commissioners' office was filled to capacity with representatives or heads of county departments - from common pleas court judge to the prosecutor, commissioners, heads of the veterans services and developmental disabilities boards, port authority, sheriff's office, engineer's office and other offices.
"We must survive 2008 before we get to 2009," Pappano told the group. "What we've got is a major problem for 2008.
"I don't want to pick on any particular department, because I think we're all in the same bag. We're in serious trouble in this county, and we have to face it."
Pappano said he would like to see every department finish the year with a balanced budget, but indicated that the challenge will not be easy, and in the future, the situation will not get easier.
The auditor said the county's revenues are being hit by a "double whammy." The county's sales tax revenues are down significantly, and the nation's economy is spiraling downward.
"Since the mall came in the late '70s, we've lived and breathed on sales tax," he said, noting that sales tax revenues are no longer providing the fiscal safety net that they once did. "Penney's moving didn't help, but it didn't really have that much of an impact on us. Hopefully next year we'll have something else there."
The county finished out 2006 and 2007 with nearly $1 million in general fund carryovers. The auditor's office reported this week that it looked as though there will be very little carryover for 2009. Although funds may be shifted between departments, Pappano indicated that everyone will have to tighten their belts to finish the year in the black.
"We must take hold of our departments or we will be laying off people," he said. "That's a blunt as I can put it. I've not said that in 32 years, but at least 70 other auditors in the state have made that statement. It looks like it's going to get really bad."
Pappano warned that the distribution of personal property tax revenues will soon be phased out, a measure the auditor said he strongly opposed in 2005 when state legislators took action on the issue. Personal property tax distributions have totaled more than $6.6 million for Belmont County's political subdivisions in the past, from school districts to townships, the county, municipal corporations, senior services, developmental disabilities, children services and mental health departments.
The personal property tax will begin its phase-out in 2011, and that money will continue to be depleted until it is eliminated after 2017.
"Those schools will have to be taken care of somehow," said Pappano. "I'd like to see the county come up with a five- to 10-year plan to address these issues."
One way to get back on track for the current budgetary situation is to trim overtime, Pappano said, particularly in the sheriff's office, where deputies continue to transport prisoners to other jail facilities while they prepare to open the new 72-bed jail addition in Belmont County.
Pappano also requested that the sheriff not hire new people this year to operate the new jail addition, and in a surprise suggestion, recommended that the new board of commissioners to be seated in January considers putting a jail levy on the ballots to fund the operation of the new addition.
County officials were quick to disagree following the budget hearing.
"This is the first time I've heard about it," Sheriff Fred Thompson said of Pappano's jail levy suggestion. "We'll have to sit down and discuss it. Jefferson County has had a hard time passing their jail levies."
Thompson noted that the jail addition was designed to save the taxpayers money, and that continues to be the objective. He said the jail will operate safely, efficiently and effectively in the near future.
Others were taken by surprise with the levy suggestion.
"We have worked closely with the auditor's office on this project. We've met with (Deputy Auditor) Andy Sutek dozens of times, but this is the first time we've ever heard of that," Commissioner Mark Thomas said of the levy proposal. "We never once mentioned a jail operating levy. I would be vehemently opposed to it. That's my position. In difficult economic times, you don't go ask the taxpayers to spend more money."
Thomas said operating a county department was no different than operating a business. When there is a decline in revenue, you have to make cuts, he said.
"The jail, quite frankly, should be a revenue generator," Thomas said.
For 2009, Pappano said he recommends a freeze on appropriations and said the auditor's office would take the lead by not requesting the traditional 3-percent increase in salaries.
"We will give all the support we can from the auditor's office," he said. "We don't want to see people laid off in the county departments."
With a $2 million shortfall in receipts looming at year's end, county officials are reportedly looking at 2009 budget requests from county departments totaling $5 million to $6 million above last year's budget.
"When the commissioners tell you they don't have the money, they're telling you the truth," Pappano told the department heads.
Ayres can be reached at eayres@timesleaderonline.com
