Judge outlines budget cuts
By
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To the editor:
(The following is a public correspondence from Highland County Common Pleas Court Judge Rocky Coss to the Highland County Board of Commissioners.)
On Sept. 17, you met with county department heads and requested that each department reduce expenditures for the remainder of 2009 by 20 percent of the total of each department’s encumbered and free balance totals as of that date. This includes salaries of the department head and employees. According to the auditor’s budget sheet for the court provided to me yesterday by Commissioner Shane Wilkin, this balance for the Common Pleas Court General and Domestic Relations Divisions is $60,276.29. The amount of spending reductions necessary to meet the 20 percent goal is $12,055.26.
The court’s 20 percent budget reduction will be accomplished as follows:
1. The court will freeze all further expenditures for the following accounts with the balances indicated being the total of the free balance and encumbered balance:
Supplies, $2,750.48
Travel, $375
Telephone, $1,181.53
Total: $4,307.01
The court will pay any necessary expenses normally paid from these accounts from the Court’s Special Projects Account which are funds assessed as part of the filing fees for each new and reopened case filed with the Court.
2. Based on the year-to-date expenditures it is estimated that the following funds will have year balances remaining as follows:
Juror Fees, $4,000
Witness Fees, $1,000
Total, $5,000
3. I will take a 20-percent reduction in the portion of my salary paid by the county for the remaining three months of 2009.
That amount is $613.17 per month. That will be a monthly savings of $122.63 and a total savings of $367.90
4. The four full-time employees of the court will take three furlough days.
The two part-time employees will take one furlough day.
Total savings from the furloughs will be $1,842.50.
One of the furlough days will be the day after Thanksgiving. The court will be closed on that day. With that exception, the court will remain open on all other normal business days through the end of the year.
I have also reduced the Jury commissioners’ salaries by 20 percent for the remainder of the year.
The total of these reductions is $11,517.41, leaving a balance of $537.85 in additional reductions to meet the 20 percent goal.
If there are fewer jury trials than anticipated for the remainder of the year, there will be additional funds in the juror fees and witness fees accounts.
Depending on those balances as of December 15, 2009, if it is necessary to accomplish the 20 percent reduction in the general fund budget for the court, the court will pay the balance required to meet that goal from the Court’s Special Projects Account to the county general fund.
It should be noted that the Court is operating with minimal staff and has since I assumed office last August.
The court’s approved 2009 general fund budget of $207,996.92 is 20-percent less than the actual expenditures for the court’s general fund budget for 2003 ($260,445.44) which are the oldest budget records that the Court has at this time.
If you have any questions, please contact me.
Sincerely,
Rocky A. Coss,
Judge
Highland County
Common Pleas Court[[In-content Ad]]
(The following is a public correspondence from Highland County Common Pleas Court Judge Rocky Coss to the Highland County Board of Commissioners.)
On Sept. 17, you met with county department heads and requested that each department reduce expenditures for the remainder of 2009 by 20 percent of the total of each department’s encumbered and free balance totals as of that date. This includes salaries of the department head and employees. According to the auditor’s budget sheet for the court provided to me yesterday by Commissioner Shane Wilkin, this balance for the Common Pleas Court General and Domestic Relations Divisions is $60,276.29. The amount of spending reductions necessary to meet the 20 percent goal is $12,055.26.
The court’s 20 percent budget reduction will be accomplished as follows:
1. The court will freeze all further expenditures for the following accounts with the balances indicated being the total of the free balance and encumbered balance:
Supplies, $2,750.48
Travel, $375
Telephone, $1,181.53
Total: $4,307.01
The court will pay any necessary expenses normally paid from these accounts from the Court’s Special Projects Account which are funds assessed as part of the filing fees for each new and reopened case filed with the Court.
2. Based on the year-to-date expenditures it is estimated that the following funds will have year balances remaining as follows:
Juror Fees, $4,000
Witness Fees, $1,000
Total, $5,000
3. I will take a 20-percent reduction in the portion of my salary paid by the county for the remaining three months of 2009.
That amount is $613.17 per month. That will be a monthly savings of $122.63 and a total savings of $367.90
4. The four full-time employees of the court will take three furlough days.
The two part-time employees will take one furlough day.
Total savings from the furloughs will be $1,842.50.
One of the furlough days will be the day after Thanksgiving. The court will be closed on that day. With that exception, the court will remain open on all other normal business days through the end of the year.
I have also reduced the Jury commissioners’ salaries by 20 percent for the remainder of the year.
The total of these reductions is $11,517.41, leaving a balance of $537.85 in additional reductions to meet the 20 percent goal.
If there are fewer jury trials than anticipated for the remainder of the year, there will be additional funds in the juror fees and witness fees accounts.
Depending on those balances as of December 15, 2009, if it is necessary to accomplish the 20 percent reduction in the general fund budget for the court, the court will pay the balance required to meet that goal from the Court’s Special Projects Account to the county general fund.
It should be noted that the Court is operating with minimal staff and has since I assumed office last August.
The court’s approved 2009 general fund budget of $207,996.92 is 20-percent less than the actual expenditures for the court’s general fund budget for 2003 ($260,445.44) which are the oldest budget records that the Court has at this time.
If you have any questions, please contact me.
Sincerely,
Rocky A. Coss,
Judge
Highland County
Common Pleas Court[[In-content Ad]]