Commissioners pass 2023 budget

Per the Ohio Revised Code, the General Fund is the single largest discretionary fund managed by the Board of County Commissioners.

The budget represents the projected amount of spending versus anticipated revenues in 2023. The budget is a ‘living’ document, subject to changes and revisions throughout the year as necessary to respond to changes in expenses and revenues, according to commissioners Lew Hilkert and Terry Rummel, who work with department heads and county auditor Vickie Grimm to develop the budget.

The biggest expense in the so-called “A” line account, or General Fund, is law enforcement related, including $1.42 million for the Corrections Center of Northwest Ohio. The payment is the county’s share to operate the five-county regional prison.

Other anticipated General Fund expenditures are: $2.045 million to the Williams County Sheriff’s Office; $718,000 for the county’s share to operate the Northwest Ohio Juvenile Detention and Rehabilitation Center; $717,000 for the county Juvenile Department; $617,000 for the county courthouse budget; $440,000 for the county Veterans Service Commission; $655,000 for the county prosecutor’s office; and $633,000 for the county 911 Communications Center.

Grimm’s Auditor’s Office expenses are pegged at $376,000 while the commissioner’s office budget is set at $359,000 in 2023.

On the revenue side, Grimm, Hilkert and Rummel said monthly monitoring of sales tax and real estate conveyances are “key indicators” of whether budget adjustments need to be made.

“It’s the fastest way to see what’s happening. If you see a slip, you have to be ready to make (spending) adjustments,” Rummel said.

However, while sales tax revenue (around 40% of county revenues) and conveyances have been up each month in 2022, Grimm said she expects a “correction” to slow the economy in 2023.

“Sales tax has been up over the past year (but) if (the economy) takes a downturn as expected, then we may see a need to revisit (the budget),” she said.

Hilkert noted sales tax revenue was up about 9% in November, “but was it really,” he said, noting that the current national inflation rate is about 7%. “So with 7% inflation, we’re really only up 2% then,” he said.

Grimm said she budgets using conservative revenue estimates that still cover anticipated annual expenses.

As for actual expenses for her department, “I always ask if it’s something that we actually need ... is it a responsible use of taxpayer money,” she said.

COVID Money

On the expense side, the cost of equipment and materials, and salary and benefits increases for county employees, is continuing to rise, which requires a corresponding offset from county revenues.

Helping meet those expenses is a one-time, $7.12 million infusion to the county in federal American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds. The county received $3.563 million in 2021 and $3.563 million in 2022.

While the ARP money was initially targeted for infrastructure, the county has taken advantage of a later federal standard allowance ruling that enables a local government to expend up to $10 million of its ARP/Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (CSLFRF) in the revenue replacement category. (Side note: the funds were awarded without entities having to demonstrate any actual lost revenue).

The county has absorbed the $7.2 million into its General Fund to help meet its employee salary obligations, and also has earmarked $3-$5 million in expenses for one-time projects.

That figure includes about $2 million for the new shared airport hangar/Emergency Management Agency building at the county airport, though some of that cost will be recaptured through new additional gas and hangar fee revenue, and some through reimbursements from entities such as the Federal Aviation Administration.

Some other projects promised or expected to be be fully or partially funded from ARP funds include:

• $1.8 million to replace or restore all 175 windows in the county courthouse;

• $400,000 for the Hickory Estates sewer project (which is under an Environmental Protection Agency mandate), and $75,000 for addition sewer pump work;

• $350,000 to the Williams County Port Authority for its new housing efforts;

• $300,000 for the Edgerton water tower upgrade project;

• $300,000 for equipment and software upgrades for the county Information Technology department;

• $150,000 for the new concrete Veterans Memorial Building parking lot;

• $75,000 for HVAC work at the Gillette Building on the county fairgrounds.

Hilkert said he feels it’s critical to prioritize requests for ARP funding. “We can easily have more requests than we have funding,” he said last fall.

2007-08 GFC

The current list leaves at least $2-$4 million in ARPs funding in the county coffers, and that’s by design — memories of the 2007–2008 global financial crisis (GFC) looms large in the background, Hilkert, Rummel and Grimm agree.

Rummel said the consensus is that at least $2 million in ARPs money will stay in the county coffers to be used as a hedge against economic downturns.

Hilkert notes a message he received from an influential constituent soon after becoming a commissioner in 2007, who told him that keeping the county financially solvent was priority No. 1.

“(ARPs) puts us ahead, but we don’t want to spend it all, in case we have economic challenges, like we had in 2008,” said Hilkert, who’s spent the majority of his working career in banking.

Rummel and Grimm both noted that this year, as it did going into 2022, the county set aside $570,000 from its MCO (Managed Care Organization) settlement account to balance the budget. Grimm emphasized, though, that it’s not been needed.

“We have it, but we’ve never actually had to transfer (spend) it,” she said