Trumbull begins cutting into 2025’s budget requests
WARREN — Trumbull County commissioners will begin the process of squeezing more than $81.5 million in budget requests from 28 county departments and other entities into a $66 million 2025 general fund budget projection.
The county has until March 1 to complete this year’s budget. However, at Tuesday’s weekly workshop meeting, Commissioner Denny Malloy suggested the county may complete its budget process over the next two weeks.
After completion of the commissioners’ regular agenda during today’s meeting, they will begin determining budget priorities to be sent to county departments. With these priorities in hand, department heads will be able to go through the requests provided to commissioners last year and prioritize what is more important for the operation of their departments.
With an appropriation request of $20.8 million, Trumbull County Sheriff Mike Wilson is seeking the largest amount. The request represents 31.29% of all requests.
The commissioners — which includes funds for maintenance, human resources and building inspections — is seeking more than $15.6 million, the next highest percentage of county funds, representing 23.5% of the budget requests
Domestic and juvenile courts are requesting more than $7.5 million, or 11.4%, and Common Pleas courts are requesting more than $5.1 million, or 7.75% of the budget.
The total requests represent 122% of the county’s budget. Commissioners will have to trim approximately $14.94 million to balance the budget.
Alexandra DeVengencie Bush, the county’s Human Resources Director, said the majority of the requests from most county departments likely will be based on the departments’ personnel costs because payroll is the largest expense for any department.
In 2024, Trumbull County had a general fund budget of $64.46 million.
The county also had to reduce the amount provided to department requests made last year.
After today’s meeting, Malloy said commissioners will send each department the percentage of the budget they will be able to spend and then allow them to fine-tune their budget requests to fit within that amount.
“We don’t need to micromanage each individual office — telling them what stapler to purchase or what employee to hire,” Malloy said. “There are some things in which we will say no we are not going to do this.”
Commissioner Tony Bernard questioned if the commissioners had to cut a similar amount in requests at this time last year.
“It was a similar amount,” Malloy said. “We cut $4 million off the sheriff’s office’s request right out the gate last year. Initially, I think, they requested $24 million.”
DeVengencie Bush said the commissioners provided the sheriff’s office just over $17 million in 2024, but sheriff’s office representatives told them it would not be enough to cover the department’s 2024 expenses.
At the end of the year, the commissioners had to provide the department with approximately $2 million to complete the sheriff’s office’s 2024 payroll.
“They go over roughly $2 million to $3 million every year,” Bush said. “You can give percentages all day long, but then how are they operating?”
Malloy said department heads asked for things they know likely will not be financed.
“There is some fat built into these requests,” he said. “It is our job to divide the money. It is not an easy task. Every other county in the state is doing the same thing.”
Malloy emphasized that the commissioners are ultimately responsible for its budget, regardless of the requests from any department head or county elected officials.