Grendell Defends Court’s 2015 Budget Request

November 27, 2014

Geauga County Probate/ Juvenile Court Judge Tim Grendell laid out his case for a substantial increase in his proposed 2015 budget in a Nov. 20 letter to the county commissioners.

Unfunded judicial services mandates, increased demand for court services to combat ongoing drug-related problems, domestic violence and dysfunctional family issues, the resulting need for increased detention time, and underpaid court staff were just some of the reasons he gave commissioners for increasing the court’s budget by 72 percent over his division’s 2012 budget.

Grendell’s total amended budget for 2014 was about $2.27 million and he submitted a final request of about $2.6 million for 2015.

Compared to the court’s budget of $1.5 million in 2012, that is an increase of 72 percent, county Budget and Finance Manager Heidi Delaney said.

If the county’s increased share of the Portage-Geauga Juvenile Detention Center expense and the costs associated with a heroin initiative introduced in 2014 are removed, the 2015 budget request still reflects an increase of about $635,000, or about 42 percent, she explained.

“Since Geauga County has reportedly accumulated over $100,000,000 in excess public funds and likely will have a multimillion dollar tax surplus at the end of 2014, it is fortunate that Geauga County will have sufficient funds available for the court to provide the reasonable and necessary services required in 2015 to protect Geauga County seniors, children and families, as well as our residents’ property and assets,” Grendell wrote to commissioners.

But while the total county tax budget for 2015 totals around $108.8 million, Delaney said, the general fund — out of which the commissioners support 10 departments — only adds up to around $29.4 million, or about 21 percent of the tax revenue.

County Administrator Dave Lair said Tuesday Grendell’s reference to excess public funds might be a misunderstanding by the judge on how tax dollars are distributed to schools, the county and other departments and agencies in the county.

Grendell said his court’s 2015 budget provides the funds that are “reasonable and necessary” for the court to provide “constitutionally and statutorily mandated services.”

“It is incongruous for the commissioners to increase the sheriff’s 2015 budget and prosecutor’s 2015 budget and then provide funding for additional court services generated by the additional prosecutorial actions of the sheriff and prosecutor,” he said.

While the court has no choice but to comply with unfunded mandates, the judge added, “the county has no choice but to fund those mandates.”

But Geauga County Prosecutor Jim Flaiz said Friday his office’s 2015 budget request is actually less general fund money than the current year.

“The 2014 budget for the prosecutor’s office is $1,486,217. Our 2015 budget request is $1,535,647. This is an increase of $49,430, or about 3.33 percent,” Flaiz said. “But $53,792 of the increase is coming from the delinquent real estate tax fund. Therefore, our request is actually for less general fund money than the current year.”

Flaiz also noted commissioners had requested county departments limit their budgets to a 3.5 percent increase.

“We have actually requested less than that,” the prosecutor said.

The Geauga County Maple Leaf placed several calls to Grendell’s office seeking comment on the court’s budget request. None of those calls were returned.

2015 Budget Explanation

Grendell’s latest letter, dated last Thursday, ended with the judge offering to send Court Administrator David Lubecky to a public budget hearing, if the commissioners wished to discuss the matter.

The judge’s budget explanation included a brief synopsis of the key factors affecting his expanded budget proposal:

• Law changes in 2014 mandate probate courts conduct hearings for outpatient civil commitment cases in addition to traditional in-hospital civil commitment hearings.

Estimated increase to 2015 budget: $36,000.

• Senate Bill 143, signed into law in June, allows a juvenile court to place juvenile parole violators back into the Department of Youth Services for 90 days for rehabilitation. The county must pay the cost for any additional DYS time.

Estimated increase to 2015 budget: $30,000 to $50,000.

• Heroin-related cases originating in the county prosecutor’s and sheriff’s departments have increased the need for judicial services such as detention, probation and court hearings.

Increased law enforcement effort to interdict drug use has also increased the abuse, neglect and dependency caseload, which increases child placement and drug treatment needs.

Estimated increase to 2015 budget: $30,000.

That number is expected to increase, however, because the court intends to expand its successful Family Life Intervention Program — designed to reunite families where children have temporarily been removed from a home due to substance abuse issues involving one or more parents — to domestic violence cases.

• Longer detentions are being handed down due to more juveniles committing drug-driven felonies, with the cost of detention more than doubling since 2013.

“This is a reasonable and necessary court expense to maintain public safety in Geauga County,” Grendell said.

Estimated increase to 2015 budget: $139,000.

• Non-adjudicated delinquent children must be placed in respite — not detention — but the county does not have a respite facility. Consequently, at-risk children must be placed in detention for respite.

“The only other choice at this time is to leave those children in a highly at risk situation,” the judge told commissioners. “As juvenile court judge, I will continue to do what I must to protect our at risk children.”

Grendell also warned commissioners the county’s failure to provide any non-detention respite for these children “is an invitation for legal challenge and potential litigation.”

“Failure to address this issue would be reckless,” he said.

Estimated increase to 2015 budget: $30,000.

A youth home solution in Geauga would cost about $300,000.

• If the Ohio Supreme Court adopts a proposed new rule regarding guardianships, and proposed legislation becomes law, guardians will have to undergo mandatory training before appointment, undergo annual review hearings and provide increased services for their wards, potentially resulting in 350 to 400 more probate court hearings in Geauga County.

“Of course, neither the legislature nor the Ohio Supreme Court will provide any funds to offset the costs of the new mandates,” Grendell said.

Estimated increase to 2015 budget: $60,000 to $70,000.

•  Child placements through Geauga County Job and Family Services increased nearly 40 percent in 2014.

“Turnover of GCJFS social workers assigned to abuse, neglect and dependency cases directly impacts the court’s docket and ability to pursue family reunification, as required under state law,” Grendell said.

Grendell intends to address the problem by developing external services, case management and supervised visitation services “to the extent the court deems reasonable and necessary for the court to provide judicial services as mandated by Ohio law and judicial ethical standards.”

Estimated increase to 2015 budget: $15,000 to $185,000.

• Drug use and domestic violence cases stress the CASA ad litem program. The court proposes additional training for and supervision of CASA personnel.

Estimated increase to 2015 budget: $80,000.

Grendell said the county juvenile court historically has not contracted for many court services and programs that other juvenile courts around Ohio have provided.

“The reasons for not providing these services, programs and placements must be left for history,” he said.

Added Grendell, “Without those programs and effective placements, there will be more juvenile recidivism, longer, more costly and less effective placements, and failed placements. All of these will ultimately be more costly to the Geauga County taxpayers.”

Court Staff Salary Increases

More general fund dollars for granted salary increases for court staff also account for a chunk of Grendell’s 2015 budget.

“The court staff has been undercompensated,” he said. “This inequity has been exacerbated in the past two years because of the increased challenges caused by the heroin epidemic and legislative and supreme court mandates.”

Adequately compensated court staff is necessary to maintain the duties and functions of the court, Grendell said.

Increases in the employees pay rates include a 46.67 percent salary increase for Constable/Outreach Coordinator John Ralph and a 32.77 percent increase for Judicial Administrator Charlotte Zimmerman.

Ralph’s salary jumped from $41,600 in 2013 to $62,847 in 2014 while Zimmerman’s pay rose from $42,640 in 2013 to $60,756, according to the county’s employee pay rate report.

The annual difference for all probate/juvenile court employees’ pay went from $761,822 in March 2013 to $928,314 in March 2014, accounting for more than $98,000 in raises, according to the rate report, which shows 22 employees for that year.

Tuesday, county Commissioner Ralph Spidalieri said Grendell’s office made the case in 2013 that, because of the increase in heroin-related crimes, a number of people working in the court were having increased work loads and responsibilities.

Compared to other departments in neighboring counties where the courts were facing similar case loads, Spidalieri said, “Our salaries were definitely below some of those standards.”

Concerns that retention of key employees could become a problem if salaries were not aligned with those in other counties, the commissioners approved the increases in 2013, he said.

“You’ve gotta be able to pay good people to keep good people,” Spidalieri said.

When asked if the increases related to pending legislation on guardianships should be delayed if and until such legislation is passed in June, he said he expects Grendell would carry any extra funds over to the following year.

“The judge is reasonable enough that, if the money is not needed, he’s not going to spend it,” Spidalieri said.