Geauga County Finance Director Adrian Gorton came under fire during an Aug. 26 hearing before the Geauga County Budget Commission when he said the renovation of the historic courthouse on Chardon Square might stall out if the commission didn’t certify a $10 million cash encumbrance request.
Geauga County Finance Director Adrian Gorton came under fire during an Aug. 26 hearing before the Geauga County Budget Commission when he said the renovation of the historic courthouse on Chardon Square might stall out if the commission didn’t certify a $10 million cash encumbrance request.
“Unless I am able to certify the $10 million and create an encumbrance on that and begin to transfer at least portions of the $10 million into the capital reserve fund before the end of the year — and indeed, probably within the next couple months — we may need to halt construction on the courthouse,” Gorton said.
Geauga County Auditor and commission member Chuck Walder said the county could have had immediate access to the $10 million needed if they had taken the advice of the budget commission last year, which was to use $10 million available through the American Rescue Plan Act to pay salaries for the Geauga County Sheriff’s Office.
Geauga County Prosecutor Jim Flaiz, who also sits on the budget commission, said his office had earlier instructed the county it could not transfer funds directly from ARPA to their general fund, but should instead spend directly from the ARPA fund.
“I thought (Assistant Prosecutor Laura LaChapelle) was telling you guys back in February — let’s start paying the sheriff salaries out of the ARPA fund,” Flaiz said, noting this would have meant added federal procurement requirements.
Walder said he previously told Gorton he objected to using the ARPA money on the courthouse project directly because that money was a form of settlement, but he was overruled. His second objection was to a county plan, which would have transferred money out of the ARPA fund to the county Department of Water Resources, as well as into the $10 million set aside for construction.
Walder believed both were prohibited uses of the federal ARPA money.
“Once you transfer out and commingle that money, you can’t trace it in,” Walder said. “You can’t ensure that it was used for the purpose in which the ARPA funds are designated, and, therefore, it becomes an accounting nightmare.”
But, his recommendations “fell on deaf ears,” he said.
With only $6.2 million left on the encumbrance for Infinity Construction and with structural steel now going up, the county is expecting “well north of a million dollar” expenses each month, Gorton said.
The $10 million ARPA encumbrance sat for six months until it was canceled so money could be moved into payroll accounts.
“For (the budget commission) to certify something at one time, remove the encumbrance that created that for good reason, and then to deny our ability to rectify that situation by not certifying the $10 million and not admitting that the commissioners have the right to move appropriations, I think, is detrimental to the finances of this county (and) in direct violation of everyone’s oath of office in this room,” Gorton said.
Flaiz took issue with that statement.
“I’ll put it very bluntly. I am not going to support you clawing back money from elected officials because I don’t trust you. (The) three of you — I don’t trust you,” he said, referring to Gorton, Morgan and Assistant County Administrator Linda Burhenne. “I don’t trust that you’re conducting open meetings because you’re not.”
Flaiz said he understood why Gorton was asking for an exception to be made to certify the $10 million encumbrance, but that it was an exception he was unwilling to make.
“You have millions and millions of dollars other places. So, if construction stops over there and you point the finger at us, I don’t want to hear it,” he said. “Because you have plenty of ways to pay bills over there. It’s ridiculous that you need this $10 million before Jan. 1. (It’s) totally absurd to me. Go get out all the other funds that you’ve been hiding money in, that we have the list of, but I am not going to allow or vote for a situation where you’re clawing back money (from departments). Because I do not trust the three of you, period. That’s it. So just plainly as I can put it, you better figure out another way. But you created the problem, not us. I’m not solving that problem for you.”
