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POLAND TOWNSHIP -- Trustees at a special meeting Tuesday gave their approval to sell a 2025 Chevrolet Tahoe, originally purchased for the police department, to the Mahoning County Emergency Management Agency as a way to ease the township's financial strain.
"With the current financial situation, the board decided to accept the deal the county presented to purchase the vehicle from us for full price," Poland trustee Eric Ungaro said. "So we are thankful EMA approached us."
He said the price tag of the Tahoe was approximately $55,000. It had not yet been outfitted with the light bar, equipment and decal package for the township, which Ungaro said would have been an additional $20,000. The sale of the vehicle took some pressure off the township's financial situation, Ungaro said.
The need to tighten the township's belt was made after the township fiscal officer made it clear at the August meeting that cuts would have to be made to deal with a budget deficit. At the August meeting, Fiscal Officer Paul "PJ" Canter said $700,000 needed to be trimmed from the 2027 budget.
Ungaro said the township has been operating on a 1996 budget for the past 30 years. He said costs continue to go up and income is not keeping pace. He did say he was thankful to have the landfill and is expecting approximately $400,000 from an expected 1.3 million tons of waste. He said those numbers are on track for 2026.
"It's this board's and past boards' duty to continue to provide excellent service to our residents on the tax money we have been collecting since 1996," Ungaro said. "With the help of the landfill, we have been able to accomplish that through the years."
The resolution to sell the Tahoe likely will be voted on today by the Mahoning County Commissioners.
In a different matter, Poland Township Administrator Mark Covell said a motion to rescind a motion passed at the Sept. 9 meeting was approved for the road department's hours of normal operation. He said during summer months, the department works from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Last month, trustees approved a motion to switch to 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. beginning Oct. 1.
"Trustees rescinded that motion and decided to leave the hours of work at 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. for October," Covell said. "On Nov. 1, the clocks are turned back, so there was no need to change it."
Also Tuesday, trustees approved the use of the Poland Township Government Center 2:30 to 4 p.m. Oct. 16 for the Mahoning County Public Health flu vaccination clinic.
Trustees also approved changing the October trustees meeting to Oct. 21 at 6 p.m.