Judge Coss outlines budget modifications for new year

Highland County

Board of Commissioners

Governor Foraker Place

Hillsboro, Ohio 45133

Re: Common Pleas Court 2010 Budget Reductions

Dear Commissioners,

   After receiving your memorandum to department heads requesting further reductions for the 2010 budget, I have carefully reviewed the original request for the general fund for this Court which was $216,183.00. I am pleased to be able to submit herewith a revised budget request for 2010 in

the amount of $201,063.00, which is a reduction of $15,120.00 or 7% less than the original request.

Enclosed is a copy of the historical comparison for the general fund budget showing the annual expenditures for employee salaries and the total budget for the court for the years 1998-2009.  The 2009 figures are estimates based

upon the November 2009 report from the Auditor plus projected expenditures for December.

   You will note that the projected 2009 actual total general fund expenditures for the Court are $194,274.48 which is $24,022.38 or 11% less than the Court’s overall budget for 1998.  The 2009 salaries will be $3,590.00 or 2.2% less than salary expenditures for 1998. The revised 2010 general fund budget is 8% less than the actual expenditures for 1998.

There are several reasons that the revised 2010 budget is more than the projected expenditures for 2009.  No one can predict with absolute certainty the actual expenditures for jury fees and witness fees for criminal cases for an entire year because no one knows what crimes will be committed,

charged and tried in the future.

I estimated that expenditures for 2009 juror fees will be $10,600.00 and witness fees will be $900.00.  I have implemented a rule that requires the parties in civil cases to pay the juror fees and witness fees in advance.

In the past, they were paid by the Court and then billed to the parties. Collections were never equal to the amounts paid.  Under my new rule, there should be virtually no jury fees in civil cases paid by the county.

The Court has tried 13 criminal jury trials this year, with 10 of those lasting only one day, which is much different than in the past. Also, since I implemented a policy prohibiting plea bargaining on the trial date, the County no longer has to pay for prospective jurors who appear on the day of trial and then are released because a plea bargain is reached. These steps

have resulted in substantial savings to the county in jury fees.

I have estimated fees to be $15,000.00 simply to ensure that there are funds available to pay jurors if needed.  I hope to keep the 2010 expenditures for jury fees close to this year’s total, but again, I cannot guarantee that

amount will be sufficient.

The same is true for the witness fees.  I have no control over the number of witnesses that are required to appear since the State and the Defendant issue the subpoenas.  I feel confident that we will be under the amount requested in 2010 as well but cannot guarantee that.

The amount requested for employee salaries in 2010 is the same as appropriated in 2009 but approximately $2,300.00 more than will be expended this year. This is due to the savings from furlough days taken by Court staff the last quarter of this year. There are no raises in the revised

budget.  

It is my judgment that the Court has done as much if not more than most of the other departments to reduce expenditures from the general fund. At this time, I do not feel that I will be able to make any additional cuts

without impairing the ability of the Court to operate in a manner that will enable the Court to fulfill its duties as imposed by statute and rules of the Ohio Supreme Court.  I have determined that the amount submitted in the

revised 2010 budget request for the Court is the minimum reasonable and necessary amount required to operate the Court in 2010.

I assure you that I will continue to monitor spending of the Court closely and continue to look for opportunities to reduce spending or to increase revenues.  If you have any questions or comments about the revised budget, please contact me.

Sincerely,

Rocky A. Coss, Judge

HIGHLAND COUNTY COURT OF COMMON PLEAS

GENERAL AND DOMESTIC RELATIONS DIVISIONS

GENERAL FUND BUDGET EXPENDITURES COMPARISON

(Based on Commissioners Annual Budget Sheets data)

YEAR            EMPLOYEE SALARIES              TOTAL BUDGET

1998                $166,167.55                $218,296.86

1999                $188,521.00                $245,550.43

2000                $177,849.37                $228,672.43

2001                $181,247.60                $240,614.17

2002                $192,131.50                $260,434.76

2003                $207,192.28                $260,445.44

2004                $204,263.80                $269,076.34

2005                $200,999.63                $249,429.16

2006                $200,326.90                $269,163.61

2007                $167,057.69                $223,132.64

2008                $175,890.51                $219,573.51

2009                $162,577.50*                $194,274.48*

*Estimated based upon 11/30/09 Auditor’s Report and anticipated expenditures for December.