Budget Commission Reviews Report of Stagnant Funds Totaling Over $400,000
Budget Commission Meeting – February 2, 2026
Meeting Details: The Geauga County Budget Commission met in Regular Session on Monday, February 2, 2026 at 10:00 am in the Auditor's Conference Room, 215 Main Street, Chardon, Ohio. The meeting was in person with a virtual attendance option via MS Teams. To attend Budget Commission meetings virtually via MS Teams, email an invitation request to Pam McMahan at PMcMahan@geauga.oh.gov.
Meeting Attendance: Prosecutor Jim Flaiz, Treasurer Chris Hitchcock, and Auditor Chuck Walder.
Staff Attendance: Deputy Auditors Kristen Sinatra and Tina Kloski, Chief Operations Officer Pam McMahan, ADP (Automatic Data Processing) Chief Deputy Administrator Frank Antenucci, and Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Kristen Rine (virtual).
County Staff: Budget & Finance Manager Adrian Gorton (virtual)
Members of the Public: This LWV Geauga Observer (virtual)
The meeting was called to order at 10:03 am.
Minutes: Minutes from the Special Meeting on January 22, 2026 were approved and can be found here.
The following Revenue Certificates were approved:
Reviewer Note: An explanation of the different types of funds in revenue certifications can be found
here.
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Chardon Local Schools - Amendment #4. $57,984,694.87 in the general fund, $6,639,024.71 in special revenue funds, $451,477.43 in debt service funds, $5,581,594.03 in capital project funds, $9,275,200.22 in internal service funds, and $115,642.98 in fiduciary funds for a total of $80,047,634.24.
Chardon’s amendment certified increases in the general fund, special revenue funds, debt service funds, capital project funds, internal service funds, and the fiduciary funds.
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Newbury Township - Amendment #1. $1,798,676.00 in the general fund, $4,066,202.09 in special revenue funds, $364,145.93 in debt service funds, $730,941.78 in capital project funds, and $1,535.64 in special assessment funds for a total of $6,961,501.44.
Newbury’s amendment certified increases in the general fund, special revenue funds, debt service funds, capital project funds and special assessment funds.
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Burton Public Library - Amendment #1. $1,925,053.23 in the general fund, $51,973.62 in special revenue funds, and $190,199.66 in capital project funds, for a total of $2,167,226.51.
Burton Library’s amendment certified increases in the general fund and special revenue funds.
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Chester Township Park District - Amendment #1. $34,424.01 in the general fund, for a total of $34,424.01.
Chester Township Park District’s amendment certified an increase in the general fund.
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Munson Township - Amendment #1. $1,705,301.53 in the general fund, $4,339,582.86 in special revenue funds, and $2,100.00 in special assessment funds, for a total of $6,046,984.39.
Munson’s amendment certified increases in the general fund, special revenue funds and special assessment funds.
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Burton Township - Amendment #1. $673,951.62 in the general fund, $1,561,131.12 and in special revenue funds, for a total of $2,235,082.74.
Burton’s amendment certified increases in the general fund and special revenue funds.
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West Geauga Recreation District - Amendment #1. $119,505.93 in the general fund and $39,869.93 in capital project funds, for a total of $159,375.86.
West Geauga Recreation District’s amendment certified increases in the general fund and capital project funds.
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City of Chardon - Amendment #1. $15,223,185.56 in the general fund, $10,308,406.03 in special revenue funds, $379,041.94 in debt service funds, $8,645,533.59 in capital project funds, $8,403,904.29 in enterprise funds, $8,054.18 in internal service funds, and $183,671.00 in fiduciary funds, for a total of $43,151,796.59.
Chardon’s amendment certified increases in the general fund, special revenue funds, debt service funds, capital project funds, enterprise funds, and fiduciary funds.
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Montville Township - Amendment #1. $468,903.01 in the general fund, $1,486,821.90 in special revenue funds, $2,263,600.00 in capital project funds, and $213.13 in fiduciary funds, for a total of $4,219,538.04.
Montville’s amendment certified increases in the general fund, special revenue funds, and capital project funds.
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South Russell Village - Amendment #1. $2,153,817.44 in the general fund, $7,938,389.95 in special revenue funds, $3,020,388.26 in capital project funds, and $293,824.64 in fiduciary funds, for a total of $13,406,420.29.
South Russell’s amendment certified increases in the general fund, special revenue funds, capital project funds, and fiduciary funds.
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Thompson Township - Amendment #1. $380,373.10 in the general fund, $1,921,181.66 in special revenue funds, $150,000.00 in capital project funds, $1,847.01 in special assessment funds, for a total of $2,453,401.77.
Thompson’s amendment certified increases in the general fund, special revenue funds, capital project funds, and special assessment funds.
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Huntsburg Township - Amendment #1. $597,847.28 in the general fund, $1,580,617.40 in special revenue funds, $10,414.49 in capital project funds, for a total of $2,188,879.17.
Huntsburg’s amendment certified increases in the general fund, special revenue funds, and capital project funds.
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Geauga County Park District - Amendment #1. $11,360,452.09 in the general fund and $3,542,601.29 in capital project funds, for a total of $14,903,053.38.
Geauga County Park District’s amendment certified increases in the general fund and capital project funds.
Discussion:
Mr. Hitchcock confirmed that the assumed fiscal year 2027 tax collection rate should be 98% as was initially expected at the January 22, 2026 Special Budget Commission Meeting. Mr. Hitchcock noted that, “There is a line of people waiting to pay their taxes. We are so blessed to be in this county.” The motion to approve this rate was passed unanimously. Ms. Sinatra confirmed that the school districts had used this assumption to prepare their budgets. Mr. Walder asked that letters communicating this rate be sent to the townships and the rest of entities in the county.
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School Budgets
Mr. Walder confirmed with Ms. Sinatra that all the budget packets were received by county school districts. He explained that he had made an initial review checking for mathematical accuracy and that all are “pretty accurate.” He asked Ms. Sinatra to indicate which school districts are close to or at the 20 mill floor and noted that Cardinal School District might be close to or at the 20 mill floor, saying that they were close to the floor last year. Mr. Walder expected that West Geauga Schools are no longer near the floor since their emergency levies now fall outside the 20 mill floor calculation. Ms. Sinatra committed to providing this information. Observer Note: Please see the Members Brief - Property Tax Millage Floors for School Districts prepared by the nonpartisan Legislative Service Commission’s staff for members and staff of the Ohio General Assembly in September 2025.
Mr. Hitchcock inquired how funding from historical emergency levies were reflected in the school budget packets. Mr. Walder explained that the Ohio State Auditor’s Office urged schools with emergency levies to roll them into their general funds. Ms. Sinatra explained that they were now a part of the school districts’ general funds but they were broken out separately in the budget hearing worksheets. Observer Note: In October 2025, the Ohio General Assembly voted to override Governor DeWine’s line item veto of the item in the biennial budget eliminating emergency levies.
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Geauga County Park District
Mr. Walder informed the Budget Commission that his office received a letter from Mr. John Oros, Director of the Geauga County Park District, indicating that their fiscal officer is currently out due to a family emergency. He requested that all questions regarding budget issues be directed to him. If the fiscal officer is out during budget preparation, Mr. Walder specifically requested that Ms. Kloski act as the advisor to the Park District in the preparation of their budget and that Ms. Sinatra act as the reviewer of it. Mr. Walder explained that this would allow for a “Chinese wall’ between the key phases of the budget process.
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Stagnant Funds
Ms. Sinatra provided a report - Certificate of the Total Amount Available for Expenditures and Balances as of December 31, 2025. Included in the report were the balances of Geauga County’s funds at the end of the last four years. Highlighted in the report were those funds whose balances had not changed over that time period. The total of these ‘stagnant’ funds was $438,858. The Budget Commission discussed the option to close these accounts and roll the remaining balances into similar existing funds. Mr. Walder asked Ms. Sinatra to provide the report to Mr. Gorton for the county to review. Mr. Hitchcock commented that, “It’s not our money; it’s the people’s. It’s not as if it’s found money; it’s been there all along but it’s stagnant. It’s always been our policy to not have stagnant money and if it’s not in motion, give it back to the people.”
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Presentation in Columbus
Mr. Walder said he would be traveling to Columbus on February 4, 2026 to make a presentation at the Ohio Township Association (OTA) Conference on reserve funds and how these funds play a role with the Budget Commission.
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Property Tax Education Sessions
Mr. Walder informed the Budget Commission of the Property Tax Education Session scheduled for February 25, 2026 at the Bainbridge Library and asked that the members of the Budget Commission plan to attend. He explained that the series of the sessions were jointly sponsored by the Geauga County Public Library, Auditor’s Office and the League of Women Voters of Geauga and that he or representatives of his office would provide a property tax overview at the start of each session. He stressed that these sessions were for educational purposes focused on the ramifications that property taxes are abolished. This Observer gave the dates and locations for the following two sessions to be held on March 10 at the Geauga County Office Building and on April 7 at the Middlefield Public Library. Reviewer Note: These educational sessions are free, but registration is required. Register to attend at the following links:
Public Comment:
This Observer requested a copy of all materials from the meeting, which were received via email on February 2, 2026.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:30 am.
Next Meeting: The next Budget Commission meeting will be the School Budget Hearings for Cardinal, Chardon, and Kenston School Districts on February 18, 2026 at 9:00 am. The School Budget Hearings for Berkshire and West Geauga School Districts will be on February 19, 2026 at 9:00 am. Both rounds of School Budget Hearings will take place in the Auditor’s Appraisal Conference Room at 231 Main St., Chardon. Virtual attendance for all Budget Commission meetings is available via Microsoft Teams by emailing an invitation request to Ms. McMahan at PMcMahan@geauga.oh.gov.
Observer: Carol Benton
Editor: Rooney Moy
Reviewer: Sarah McGlone
Submitted: February 8, 2026
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