A majority of Lake County communities have approved a new formula to determine how much state funding each receives, giving the formula enough support to go into effect for next year.
The new local government fund alternative formula replaces one from 1982. Local officials say that the new formula increases funding to the eastern end of the county and decreases it in the west to more closely match the county’s population distribution.
The new formula also decreases funding for the county’s park districts.
To take effect, the new formula needed approval from the county commissioners, Mentor City Council as the representative for the county’s largest city and at least 12 of the remaining 22 city, village and township governments in Lake County. Elected officials began to consider the formula in June.
The formula received the needed approvals by the end of the month.
The townships in the county’s central and eastern portions stand to receive “a considerable increase” under the new formula, County Auditor Chris Galloway previously said. He added that they had “gotten the short end of the stick” for the previous 42 years.
Outgoing Madison Township Trustee Kenneth Gauntner Jr. described the previous formula as “a bit lopsided” during the trustee board’s June 27 meeting.
“It really favored communities at the west end of Lake County,” Gauntner said. “And now the residential growth in the county has moved toward the east.”
Under the new formula, the county government will take 10.85 percent of the overall formula. Local communities will split the remaining funds.
The western communities of Eastlake, Wickliffe, Willoughby, Willowick, Kirtland Hills and Waite Hill will be locked at 90 percent of their 2024 funding under the new formula, while the villages Fairport Harbor, Grand River, Lakeline, Timberlake, North Perry and Perry will be locked at their 2024 distribution amounts.
These communities will switch to receiving an amount based on their population shares if they would receive more money that way.
Willoughby Mayor Robert Fiala previously said that the west end cities worked to “mitigate the loss” to their communities.
Fairport Harbor Mayor Timothy Manross said that the local government fund provides “a significant portion” of the village’s government.
“We don’t lose a dime from what we were getting from the local government fund before,” he said.
Timberlake Mayor John Marra expressed concern with the proposal at a June county commissioners meeting, stating that it would leave 12 communities “flat for the next 10 years.”
The county’s other communities will split the remaining funds based on their populations, with limits for the townships.
Concord, Leroy, Madison and Painesville townships will be limited in 2025 to 62 percent of what they would receive based on their population shares. That amount will increase by 4 percent each year but will not exceed 86 percent.
Perry Township will be limited in 2025 to 80 percent of what it would receive based on its population share. That amount will increase by 1 percent each year but will not exceed 86 percent.
Concord Township Trustee Amy Lucci said that her community’s general fund will receive more money under the new formula, though the township does not know how much.
“The impact it may have for the township is it can be a benefit in terms of community growth and overall well-being,” Lucci said. “For example, the addition in the general fund can be used towards our community recreation areas, playgrounds, other community events and education, etc. as well as roads.”
Mentor City Manager Ken Filipiak told his city’s council prior to its June 18 vote that Mentor would receive a higher percentage of the overall funding share under the new formula and described it as “a much fairer distribution.”
Kirtland Finance Director Louis Slapnicker said that his community is “not taking a hit.”
A report from Painesville Assistant City Manager Tony Zampedro described the new formula as having better terms than the previous one.
The county’s park districts will face losses under the new formula. Lake Metroparks received around $200,000 each year under the old formula, said park district Executive Director Paul Palagyi. Under the new formula, it will only receive $100,000 each year for five years.
After five years, Lake Metroparks will lose out on all local government funding.
“It is disappointing that this new formula cuts funding for the parks in half for five years and then eliminates it completely after five years,” Palagyi said.
Each community will contribute a portion of Lake Metroparks’ annual shares for the first five years.
The formula also eliminates funding for Painesville Township Park. The park is organized as a separate park district and is managed under an agreement with Lake Metroparks.
Palagyi previously said that the Painesville Township Park board pays about $4,000 a month for utilities and is paying off a debt to Lake Metroparks for the park’s pier. He described the local government fund as the park board’s only source of revenue.
If the new alternative formula had not been approved, Galloway said that the county would have defaulted to the state’s statutory formula.
The state formula is based on a community’s identified funding needs.
Galloway added that the local government fund comes from state taxes and is distributed as part of the state’s biennial budget.
The county commissioners passed a resolution in 2012 asking to repeal the 1982 formula. That formula was then determined by Lake County Prosecutor Charles Coulson to be null and void in an opinion last year.
Concord Township Trustee Morgan McIntosh said that an ad hoc committee assembled by the Lake County mayors and managers started negotiating the new formula in January. Officials produced 20 formulas over eight meetings before submitting a proposal to the Lake County Budget Commission.
“It started out pretty contentious, but in this world of divided politics, it was amazing how well everyone worked together,” McIntosh said.
Lake County Commissioner John Hamercheck, Fiala, Filipiak, former Waite Hill Mayor Bob Ranallo and McIntosh presented the proposal at the county budget commission’s May 16 meeting.
The budget commission met on July 1 to formally consider the formula, Galloway said.
Under state law, the budget commission will be required to hold at least one public hearing to review the proposal next year and every fifth year afterward.
The state requires each county’s budget commission to include its auditor, prosecutor and treasurer. Voters can petition to add two additional elected members.
Filipiak said that he doubts that local officials would have reached a similar agreement a decade ago.
“There was less of a spirit of cooperation and common interest in the best interest of Lake County as a whole than there exists today, and there’s just a lot of good leadership in the county these days and a lot of people to be commended for their efforts,” he said.
News-Herald reporters Bill DeBus, Chad Felton, Marah Morrison and William Tilton contributed to this article.
