Findlay continues to drive down budget

FINDLAY — Budget-cutting by the city of Findlay appears to be on track to return more than $1 million in unspent funds through the second quarter of this year. Findlay City Council's agenda for today's meeting includes a request from Mayor Christina Muryn for $357,405 in de-appropriations from the city's budget to the general fund. Council meets in regular session at 6 p.m. today in the Findlay Municipal Building, 318 Dorney Plaza. All council meetings are open to the public and are livestreamed on the city's YouTube page: Findlay Ohio. Most of the money, a total of $251,000, is being returned from the Findlay Police Department's budget, including: $200,000 for salaries, $40,000 for software, $6,000 for cellular service and $5,000 for radios. Other de-appropriations are being made from computer services, Findlay Municipal Court and the Findlay Fire Department. In December, Muryn said her administration will de-appropriate unspent funds throughout the year and return the money to the general fund. City departments typically return about 8% of the budget at the end of the year. The de-appropriations are meant to assure council that the city can overcome projected budget deficits this year and next. Spending over the next two years, if it follows projections, will drop the city's year-end balance to $9.5 million. That's below the city's minimum reserve balance, estimated at $10.9 million for budget year 2026. Findlay has a history of adopting deficit budgets each year, and then working to manage its way back to a balanced budget. Based on the adopted budget, Findlay is expected to spend $41.5 million to operate in 2025, compared to about $38 million in actual spending in 2024. Income tax collections in 2025 are expected to be $32.1 million. The budget shows city spending outpacing revenue by $5.8 million in 2025 and $7.6 million in 2026. In May, council de-appropriated $709,000 in spending cuts from the city's operating budget for the first quarter of 2025. Most of the de-appropriated money in May, a total of $600,000, had been budgeted for the city's prisoner and jail expenses. The money was set aside as the city braced for the closing of the Hancock County jail, an idea touted by the Hancock County Board of Commissioners late last year that was later abandoned. Closing the jail would have more than doubled the city's expenses for the incarceration of inmates. The city's mid-year budget review will be delivered by the auditor's office today to council's Appropriations Committee. The committee meets at 4 p.m. at the municipal building. The meeting is open to the public and will also be livestreamed on the city's YouTube channel. Mid-year budget reviews were first established by a resolution of council in 2008, as a means to check in on the city's financial health and prepare for budget talks for the following year. In this year's budget review, the auditor's office is expected to address the ongoing dispute over the city's investment polices that has the office and council at odds. At the July 1 meeting of city council, Auditor Jim Staschiak reported that both income tax and business tax collections are lagging behind projections. Income tax collections are down about $1.4 million to date, and by the end of the year, business tax collections could be off as much as $2 million.