Court Gives Commissioners Non-Existent Account to Transfer Money

January 21, 2016 by John Karlovec

Geauga County Commissioners said this week they are willing to work collaboratively with the county juvenile court to meet its funding needs.

All they need from the court is information about why the money is needed and a valid account in which to transfer the money.

The commissioners were hoping to get that information Tuesday morning from a representative of Geauga County Juvenile Court Judge Tim Grendell’s office.

Instead, no one from Grendell’s office show up for the meeting, which had been requested in response to an order Grendell issued Jan. 6 directing the county to return $124,732 of taxpayer money to his 2016 budget.

The money had been taken out of a budget line item for the court’s Family Life Intervention Program (FLIP) because the court apparently had secured grant funding to pay for the program, Heidi Delaney, the commissioners’ budget and finance manager, told commissioners Tuesday.

Kimberly Laurie, Grendell’s budget coordinator and county liaison, told the Geauga County Maple Leaf the commissioners were told seven month ago it would be court policy not to attend such hearings.

While the commissioners’ office is free to hold public hearings for departments within its branch of government, “it is unconstitutional for the executive branch to put the judicial branch ‘on trial’ regarding our appropriations,” Laurie said.

Following the Jan. 19 meeting, county Administrator David Lair wrote Grendell to inform him that without guidance from the court regarding the specific accounts requiring supplemental funding, the commissioners lacked the information necessary to carry out their statutory duties to “accurately appropriate funds in accordance with a county spending plan.”

“We ask that your office provide us with specific accounts needing supplemental funding in a total amount of $124,732.34 at your earliest opportunity, so that the board may take prompt action to act upon your order,” Lair said.

Laurie replied to Lair’s letter on Tuesday afternoon, stating the money should be transferred to account 1001-007-00-900.

“Alternatively, you could put it back where your staff arbitrarily had appropriated it in July (2015), which was split amount various line items . . . . ,” Laurie said.

The account the court and Laurie referenced does not appear to exist, Lair informed Laurie Thursday, “therefore it is not possible to appropriate the $124,732.34 to this account.”

“Regarding the alternate account provided. It appears this account is no longer being used to fund the Family Life Intervention Program and, therefore, using this account would misrepresent the intended purpose and use of those funds, and, therefore, we consider this an inappropriate action,” Lair told Laurie.

“We are sure that the courts would prefer to use an account that accurately demonstrates to the public how these funds are to be used,” he said. “Please provide a valid account that represents the true use of the dollars being requested.”

Geauga County Auditor Frank Gliha confirmed that account 1001-007-00-900 does not exist in the county system.

On Thursday, Laurie told the Maple Leaf the account referenced in her communications with the commissioners’ office “was an error on my part.”

“The intended account number is 1001-007-02-901 and that has been communicated to the commissioners,” she said.

According to Delaney, the new account provided is a general miscellaneous other expense account for the court.

The commissioners next meet at 9 a.m. Jan. 26.