Trustees holding off on budget cuts during pandemic

Miami Twp. doesn’t rely on income taxes, so the situation not as dire.

MIAMI TWP. — Budget cuts in Miami Twp. are on hold as trustees disagree on the timing of approving some outlined cost-savings amid projected COVID-19 pandemic revenue losses.

Hiring and pay freezes, stopping or delaying capital improvements, cutting funds to employee health savings accounts and restricting travel were options outlined earlier this month. No urgent action is required in most of those categories, officials said.

Slashing those areas would “far exceed” about $400,000 in projected revenue shortfalls, township administrator Ron Hess said.

But the township would likely face fewer funds from other areas, such as property, gasoline, and hotel/motel taxes, officials said. Estimates on those tax revenue losses will not be known until later in the year.

Trustees differ mainly on approving pay freezes and postponing capital improvement projects.

Board of Trustees President John Morris said he favors freezing wages at a time, when many businesses — including many in and around the Dayton Mall and Austin Landing — have faced shutdowns by order of Gov. Mike DeWine, costing residents jobs and income.

“I think it’s the right message to our community that because we’ve been fortunate enough to hold our employees as a whole. It sends the right message to say we’re not going to cut anybody, we’re not going to let anybody go,” he said.

“We’re going to maintain our services. But at the same time,

we’re not going to be increasing salaries in this year when things are as tight as they are,” he added.

Estimated revenue shortfalls represent a “relatively small percentage” of the township’s annual total revenues of between $23 million to $25 million, Finance Director Clay McCord said.

Ohio townships do not impose income taxes, which cities across the state expect to lose large chunks of revenue from due to business shutdowns and job losses due to the coronavirus. Many area cities have made millions of dollars in budget cuts.

Local city officials have been bracing for income tax revenue losses ranging from 10% to 20% — if not more — depending on the length of COVID-19’s impact.

Board Vice President Don Culp said he did not want to impact township employees yet, advocating for maintaining “people’s spending power through this tough time.”

He proposed delaying capital and discretionary spending. But Morris said he wants to maintain — if not increase — capital spending, which includes road work and building maintenance.

“These are not luxury items,” Morris said. “These are maintenance (items) that I think we’re eventually going to spend” money on and may get at a lower cost given the current economy.

Trustee Terry Posey said he favored holding off on any votes to cut spending, as officials said the vast majority of issues are not pressing.

But any cuts should be imposed “on the employees last,” he said.

“All of these tools remain at our disposal,” Posey said. “None them have to be acted on at this point.”

He said trustees should continue “to receive information as to our budget issues and not implement any of these until they become absolutely necessary.”