Commissioner FAQ:
What Do Perry County Commissioners Do?
This is a common question. I am going to start with some official Ohio Revised Code (ORC) language that will possibly generate even more questions!
A Perry County Commissioner’s Role in County Government
Commissioners are elected to a four-year term and are given specific, limited authority by the Ohio revised code. The Board of Commissioners holds title to all county properties, serves as the sole taxing authority for the county, and controls county purchasing. In addition, it is the county government’s budgeting, appropriating and purchasing authority. In its role as county property title holder, the Commission Board is also responsible for hearing and ruling on annexations authority, providing water and sewer services, making improvements and providing for solid waste disposal. Check out Section 303.37 in the Ohio Revised Code if you want to get the legal version.
In layman’s terms, a county commissioner is responsible for the management and operation of county government. The Board of County Commissioners is the responsible budgeting authority. The commissioners put together the budget for the county and operate within that budget.
Unlike the federal government, Ohio’s state, county, township, and village governments must operate within a balanced budget. We cannot operate with a deficit.
In some years it is difficult to stay within that budget due to continuous inflation, and the ever-increasing cost of doing business. Addition factors include trying to stay competitive with employee salaries and retaining good people.
Your Perry County Commissioners do not control the budget of any Townships or Villages in any way.
Perry County Commissioners do set the budget for the offices of all the elected officials of Perry County; for example, the Perry County Auditor, Treasurer, Recorder, and Sheriff.
Our budgeting process usually starts right after Labor Day. We begin having budget hearings for the coming year with each of the county offices. Elected officials or department heads come to the Board of Commissioners during session and discuss their budget requests.
Along with elected officials, there are many departments within the general fund whose department heads submit their budget requests for the coming year. When all the requests are received, a process that usually takes about three months, we then review the estimated budget for the year and consider what our estimated revenue will be for the coming year. That estimated revenue is provided by the Perry County Auditor based on tax revenue projections.
Once budgets are approved an elected official can operate with a certain degree of flexibility within their budget throughout the year. For example, once the Sheriff’s Office budget is approved the sheriff has spending authority within his budget. He can move money around, transfer within his budget to different line items if there are changes that occur throughout the year.
The budget work is probably the single biggest item we must deal with throughout the year because it is always fluctuating and requiring attention.
