T-L Photo/GAGE VOTA Newly elected Belmont County Commissioner Vince Gianangeli spends his first board meeting applauding Commissioners J.P. Dutton and Jerry Echemann for their work on the county’s 2025 budget.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — The Belmont County Board of Commissioners appropriated $36 million for the 2025 general fund on Wednesday.

“During the fiscal year ending December 31, 2025, the following sums are hereby set aside and appropriated for the several purposes which expenditures are to be made for and during said fiscal year, as follows that there be appropriated from the general fund $36 million … ,” Commission President J.P. Dutton said. “When we get to this point it’s pretty uneventful, at least for us, not so much our staff trying to prepare the final documents. But this is really sort of the last step in what’s really a months-long process of preparing a budget for the next year.”

He added that he wanted to remind the public that counties are an extension of the state, unlike the federal government.

“It’s not like the federal government — there’s no deficit spending. We have to balance every single year, so we can only spend what comes in and that’s what we do here,” Dutton said. “When we talk about our budget, which is the general fund portion of the budget, we do not operate very much on property tax as many would sometimes think. Sales tax is what drives county general fund.”

He added that because sales tax fluctuates due to economic activity around the county, some years the budget can fluctuate as well. He said 2024 sales tax receipts were lower than in some previous years.

Dutton added that although the sales tax generated less revenue than in past years, the board of commissioners proceeded with business as usual.

“We spoke to all of the different department heads about how things were looking and what their individual needs and concerns were. We tried to meet some of those needs. Obviously we can’t meet them all, but we’ll do our best over the course of this year to do so,” Dutton said.

He added that the $36 million budget for 2025 is almost identical to 2024’s budget.

With the 2025 budget being so similar to the previous year’s, Dutton said the board did not have to make any cuts across departments.

“Nearly every county budget that receives funding through the general fund will see the same level of funding as they received last year for 2024,” he said. “There are two exceptions for that — the county auditor’s office, which has a very slight reduction compared to the prior year of roughly about 5%, and then the commissioners. We have made a reduction of nearly 11% in our budget lines in order to try and accommodate some of the other offices.”

He added that the reason for the commissioners decreasing their office’s budget by 11% was because they believe it’s only fair if they are going to reduce another department’s budget that they should also be reducing theirs.

“Since we’ve been on this board, I don’t think we have ever reduced a budget of an individual department more than we’ve reduced ourselves here in the commissioner’s office,” Dutton said of himself and Commissioner Jerry Echemann, who have both served on the board for several years. “The commissioners’ office runs about as lean and efficient as you could possibly imagine. When I first entered this board, we had seven individuals (employed) here in our direct office. We today stand at three, although we will be filling a position here soon to be at four.”

He added that the commissioners make sure not only that its office is spending money efficiently, but also that all of the county’s departments are.

He ended by thanking former commissioner Josh Meyer for his involvement in creating the 2025 budget while he was in office. Meyer, a Republican, was defeated in the March primary election and left office at the beginning of this year.

Commissioner Jerry Echemann echoed what Dutton said and agreed that the commissioners keep a close eye on the county’s spending because it cannot run deficits, unlike the federal budget.

“We’re hoping for a good sales tax revenue for the year, but we have no idea because that’s based on the economy of course. But we’ll see going forward,” Echemann said.

Newly elected Commissioner Vince Gianangeli added that although he wasn’t involved in making the budget, he understands how difficult it can be due to his experience as Colerain Township’s fiscal officer.

“It’s a massive undertaking, and I know what it’s like on a smaller scale like in our township and my time commitment of putting that together. So kudos to those involved in doing this because it’s a massive undertaking,” Gianangeli said.