City identifies $2.2M in budgetary cuts

The city of Elyria says more budget cuts are looming as the novel coronavirus sweeps through the nation.

During a virtual City Council meeting May 4, Mayor Frank Whitfield said he met with all departments in April to discuss the cuts.

Whitfield said the city was able to outline $2.2 million in budget cuts.

The mayor did not say what the cuts would be.

“All the departments really took a deep dive,” Whitfield said. “We looked at projects, equipment purchases, personnel and our last resort has been layoffs and eliminations.”

The second round of cuts comes two weeks after Whitfield announced the Parks Department and Cemetery Department supervisors would be laid off and parks services would be suspended.

Parks and Recreation will return to Elyria once it makes sense for both the budget and for public health reasons, he said.

As of now, programming remains either canceled or postponed and the rec centers remain closed due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Elyria officials said they learned from the Regional Income Tax Agency that the city is expected to lose at least $2.6 million in income tax revenue, which is its main source of income.

Finance Director Ted Pileski said the city could lose close to $4 million, making the financial losses worse than the Great Recession for Elyria.

“We’re encouraging the federal government to provide aid,” Whitfield said. We’re not alone in this though.

“There are multiple cities in Ohio that are fighting to survive.”