Inside Millage Reallocated by Russell Trustees
Russell Township Trustees voted March 20 in favor of a resolution to reallocate 1 mill of inside millage, or about $250,000, from the road and bridge fund to the general fund for 2020.
Russell Township Trustees voted March 20 in favor of a resolution to reallocate 1 mill of inside millage, or about $250,000, from the road and bridge fund to the general fund for 2020.
Trustee Justin Madden said in a recent township budget meeting Road Superintendent Gene Layne said he is concerned about having enough money to pay for the repaving of County Line Road this summer and covering some equipment issues.
“(The road department) doesn’t lose the millage outright. We are transferring it into the general fund. If he needs money and it is not committed, he can have it back,” Madden said. “It’s not something he’s going to like, but he’s willing to be a team player.”
In a text message March 21, Madden emphasized it was inside millage that was affected, not the millage residents vote on for the road and bridge fund. Inside millage is an automatic tax every township receives and trustees allocate that millage to different departments.
Shifting inside millage is not uncommon and Russell trustees took similar action in 2013, Madden said.
“(The reallocation from the road fund) was not a question of need. It is within trustee discretion from time to time to reallocate inside millage,” he said. “It is not permanent.”
Fiscal Officer Karen Walder said at a recent fiscal officer conference, it was recommended all levies should be converted from renewable to continuing levies so they don’t have to go on the ballot every five years.
“Once they are all continuing, that 1 mill can go back to the road department,” she said, adding the trustees could put a new levy for roads on the ballot to backfill the amount going into the general fund.
Walder said a major topic at the conference was how to reduce the load on a township’s general fund.
Trustees also discussed a 15-year plan the township received from the Geauga-Trumbull Solid Waste Management District that requires action in April.
Trustee Jim Mueller said the plan is 280 pages and noted the problems the U.S. is having with disposing of solid waste deals with recycling. China was buying the recycle waste until it stopped last year, so finding sources that handle metal, plastic and glass has become a problem.
“A lot of problems have been created by China and they could be resolved in 20 minutes in China and we’d never know about it. There could be dramatic changes virtually overnight,” he said, adding he’d like to have a district representative attend a trustees meeting and answer some questions.
Madden said the township will follow up on that.
