Sheriff’s Office budget debated by commissioners

Lorain County commissioners continued an ongoing debate over county fiscal health in the first day of hearings for the 2021 budget.

Commissioner David Moore said he is open to having a discussion on bringing back a controversial 0.25 percent sales tax to help maintain the Lorain County Sheriff Office road patrol in the midst of budget tightening.

In 2016, the commissioners voted to impose the tax after the proposal was rejected by voters.

At the time, the Sheriff’s Office was facing the potential of a 30 percent budget cut and it was justified as a necessity.

In late 2020, the board repealed the tax with commissioner Matt Lundy and former commissioners Sharon Sweda and Lori Kokoski making the case the tax had done its job, with the county in a solid fiscal position with a $21 million cash carryover.

Moore said he would be open to discuss revisiting the tax if it was tied to a minimum number of deputies on the road and perhaps looking at it as a millage rate to give the Sheriff’s Office more control over how the money is used.

Commissioner Michelle Hung continued her criticism of the previous commission for their decision to repeal the tax in what she says will cost Lorain County $10 million in revenue with the potential to take the government into a deficit.

“This is about the health safety and welfare of our residents,” Hung said. “And I really think that we should have thought about a fiveyear forecast on where we were going to be before something like that was done.

“And it really has created a hardship for the residents at this point.”

Lorain County’s general fund will have to pick up $2.1 million to pay for the Lorain County 911 Center, she said.

County Budget Director KC Saunders said the county supplements the Sheriff’s Office with between $4 million and $5 million annually.

Responding to Hung, Lundy reiterated Lorain County was left in a solid financial position.

He urged Hung to tell the whole story of what would have happened had the tax not been imposed in the first place to prevent layoffs.

“All the talk in 2020 was how bad the sales tax imposed was, and thank goodness, the sheriff didn’t have to cut just his staff by 30 percent,” Lundy said. “Starting the year at a near $25 million carryover, I think we’re in a good position, and we’ve done a previous board did a good job of managing the money as much as I believe that this board will moving forward.”

In a series of presentations from department heads, Sheriff Phil Stammitti submitted his 2021 budget request of approximately $23 million, including $16.5 million for the operation of the Lorain County Jail and an additional $7 million for the general fund.

The Sheriff’s Office currently has 230 employees and the largest budget of any county department, something Stammitti said he is well aware of.

“I know I have the biggest budget in the county, but you know, I always like to say that we never close,” he said. “That’s the thing about us: we are there 24 hours a day seven days a week, 365 days.”

He noted the office buildings infrastructure wears down three times quicker than most offices that typically shut down at 4:30 p.m.

The Sheriff’s Office has 21 deputies on road patrol, a number Stammitti said he would like increased to a minimum of 24.

He said the tax repeal certainly will hurt the Sheriff’s Office when it is sometimes down to two or three deputies on the road at a time.

Budget hearings will continue Feb. 12 with additional presentations.

The commissioners passed an amended temporary budget of $27 million in early January.