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A snapshot of Groveport's finances
(by Rick Palsgrove, Southeast Editor - April 28, 2009)
The village of Groveport is hoping to avoid any more budget cuts this year in the face of the tight national economy.
"We're not destitute," said Groveport Finance Director Ken Salak in an interview April 27. "We're controlling things really well. We just want to make sure we don't outspend incoming revenue."
The village's income tax revenues for March 2009 were down 40 percent compared to March 2008. Income tax revenue collections this March were $766,762 compared to last March's $1.27 million.
For the year, the village's income tax revenue is down $1.073 million, or 27.1 percent, from this time in 2008.
For the entire year of 2008, Groveport took in $10.69 million in income tax revenues. Until this year, income tax receipts had increased steadily each year from 1997 when $3.6 million in income tax funds were received.
In the face of the national economic downturn, council unanimously voted to trim nearly $1.7 million from the 2009 budget on April 13.
The revised 2009 budget is based on 2008 expenditures, which means appropriations dropped from the originally planned $12.2 million to $10.7 million.
Operating costs & debts
"We need around $750,000 to $775,000 in revenues per month just to fund day to day operations," said Salak.
Salak noted the village pays out around $460,000 in salaries and benefits per month. Additionally the village has these debt payments to make:
•recreation center/aquatic center: $105,000 per month for the next 15 years;
•golf course: $350,000 annually for 20 years;
•twice a year loan payments on the following Ohio Public Works Commission projects: east Main Street, $59,446; Hamilton Road/Bixby Road intersection, $30,052; and Bixby Road, $12,344. (These are all zero interest loans and also had partial grant funding.)
Salak stated the village also puts $8,334 per month into its "rainy day fund." He said the goal is to place $100,000 a year into the fund. Currently the fund totals $1.2 million, which is just shy of its legislated cap of $1.5 million.
Prospects
One reason for the income tax revenue drop off is that many of the companies in the village's industrial parks are retailers and such businesses have been hit hard in the bad economy. Retail sales have been off resulting in fewer workers being needed in the businesses, which in turn causes falling income tax revenues.
Income tax revenue in Groveport comes from a variety of sources including small businesses and commercial entities in the industrial parks. Also in the money mix is the Groveport Madison Local School District whose teachers, administrative, and support staffs work at five schools and the administrative offices located in the village limits placing the district in the top 15 of the village's income tax revenue sources.
In the hopes of drumming up more commercial development in the village, Economic Development Director Jeff Green reported in April he is staying in "frequent contact with industrial developers to monitor activity."
Added Green, "Although there is activity in the region and all the developers and brokers I talk to tell me they are showing their buildings quite a bit, the deals are taking longer to land...Although it is frustrating, this is typical of what all communities in the central Ohio region and nationwide are experiencing. Fortunately, the developers I talk to are not discouraged and are optimistic about filling their buildings soon."
Green is also working on compiling information about the available commercial/industrial buildings in the village.
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