Finance committee reviews 2009 budget

WELLSVILLE - The village's finance committee held a public meeting Wednesday afternoon to discuss funding issues and to review the council-approved 2009 budget.

The Columbiana County Port Authority, which normally pays a lump sum of $33,000 to the village, has stated that it plans to give three payments of $11,000 this year. The three-payment plan was stated at a recent council meeting to go against the contract between the CCPA and the village.

Council member Tony Cataldo, head of the finance committee, made a motion that the money "should go to the capital improvement fund instead of to general operations."

Fiscal officer Dale Davis will authorize future payments from the CCPA to go to the capital improvement fund in addition to the 2008 payment.

The committee discussed the upcoming one mill cemetery levy, which will generate an estimated $28,181.

Funds from the cemetery have not hit their projected mark in over two years. In 2006, $90,000 was projected; in 2007, $119,000 was projected.

According to Davis, the funds have missed their mark significantly because the forecast is based on property values rising. Property values have fallen instead, and as a result the funds are much lower than projected.

"It's very important that the residents take a good look at the cemetery levy," Council and committee member Joe Soldano said.

Davis announced that village receipts from last month were higher than village expenditures. The news came as a relief after Davis announced at a previous council meeting that the village was spending more than it received.

"We're heading in the right direction," council and committee member John McMahon said.

Cataldo put to rest a conflict between himself and village administrator Jim Saracco regarding funds for the Hammond Park pavilion.

According to Soldano, Saracco did not ask about electrical work at the pavilion, but only requested funds for stabilizing the posts of the upper pavilion's roof.

The inclusion of electrical work shot the estimated price for pavilion repairs from $500 to $5,625, even with a generator donated by the village's fire department.

"It's a property committee issue now," Soldano said.

Cataldo addressed the sewage plant situation, stating that funding is available from the Ohio Public Works department for repairing rusted equipment at the plant.

Although funding will not be an issue, OPW will not deem the equipment's repair needs an emergency, Cataldo said, because the problems are not the result of a natural disaster.

Village mayor Joe Surace and Cataldo have both stated that EarthTech, the company that runs the plant, did not inform village officials of the equipment issues.

The village will need approximately $250,000 from OPW for repairs.

"A preventive maintenance program should be set up," McMahon said. "We're not pointing fingers, it's just something that slipped through."

Cataldo also spoke about the digester tanks at the sewage plant, which have caused frustration throughout the village.

"If we eliminate one tank over there and buy a belt press and aerator, we'll never have (this) problem again," Cataldo said.

Dawn Johnson, chairperson of the Shade Tree Commission, attended the meeting to inquire about funds for the organization.

"Most tree boards are in the village budget," Johnson said.

The STC has a fund in the village budget for the Broadway Park project, but now that the project is nearly finished, Johnson said, the STC would like the fund renamed for the tree board as a whole.

"How much we could afford to put in there, that remains to be seen," Soldano said.

Money not used toward STC projects at the end of the year would be transferred back to the general fund. Donations the STC receives, however, will stay in the fund and carry over into the next year's budget calculations.

A fund including the STC is not likely for 2009, Cataldo explained, because council has already approved next year's budget.