The County Courthouse is considering cutting $3.8 million from its budget to avoid raising residents’ taxes.
That could include delaying the expansion of the landfill, postponing a facilities study, adopting a hiring freeze on county employees, canceling contributions to various initiatives, deferring maintenance on certain buildings or projects, and more.
Summit County Manager Shayne Scott and the county’s Chief Finance Officer Matt Leavitt acknowledged they took away more funding than they needed to during a follow-up discussion with the Summit County Council on Wednesday. The group met earlier this week for around two hours during a special session to address the proposed $84 million budget for 2024.
“We were shaking the couch upside down looking for coins,” Scott said.
The cuts were suggested based on a consensus from the County Council about what it was, and wasn’t, willing to fund if it meant an increase for taxpayers. Scott and Leavitt initially proposed more than $5 million in cuts, but the total was reduced when officials on Monday said they wanted to prioritize programs such as child care assistance for staff or their share of the regional housing authority.
The biggest budget cut was the $2.5 million subsidy for landfill cell construction. Leavitt said the project could be pushed off until 2025, when trash fees could help add revenue to lessen the county’s contribution.
Most other reductions came from the general fund. The County Courthouse originally proposed a nearly 16% increase that would have raised taxes $45.49 a year for someone with a primary residence valued at around $1.3 million.
Although the Assessing and Collecting Fund wasn’t as low as members of the County Council wanted, the group was more willing to support Truth in Taxation as it pays for property assessments and tax collections that help pay for essential services.
Assessing and Collecting property tax revenues have not increased since at least 2003, according to Leavitt. Meanwhile, property tax revenues in that fund have hovered around the $3 million to $3.5 million level despite inflation. Staffers suggest raising the fund by around 37%, which would cost the average taxpayer about $22.88 a year.
Residents living in Service Area #6 should also expect to see higher tax bills next year. The county proposes a 69% increase o to address road maintenance and snow removal needs. This will cost taxpayers with a home valued at around $1.2 million around $91 a year.
Leavitt said in an interview the county requested around $750,000 in property tax revenues for this district, which includes Jeremy Ranch and Pinebrook, but more households were annexed into the district starting in January which could reduce the amount needed. The district has not gone through Truth in Taxation for a decade.
Scott indicated he opposed several of the overall cuts. He stated some of the line items were needed to help with county planning or to fund projects that would come eventually — possibly during a time when it’s more expensive.
County Councilor Malena Stevens raised a point that the group seemed willing to support a tax increase earlier in the year when they committed $2.2 million to fund emergency medical services across Summit County as required by state law.
Chair Roger Armstrong said circumstances changed when other entities in the county also sought increases, and staff have been working hard to avoid another hike. Officials are looking at various ways to fund programs such as grants or tax revenue.
“We’re so close here. … I’m very confident we’ll come in under budget in expenses, over budget in revenues because that’s what we usually do,” Scott said.
Several county department heads are planning to appeal the budget cuts on Monday. The Early Childhood Alliance and senior citizen services requested additional funds totaling around $500,000 during Wednesday’s meeting that are not included in the current proposal.
The County Council expressed support for these programs, but members did not say whether they would want to see them added to the budget for next year. Summit County last went through Truth in Taxation in 2017.
There will be two public hearings about the tax increases at 6 p.m. on Dec. 6 and Dec. 13. The meetings will be held at the Sheldon Richins Building and the Summit County Courthouse, respectively.