There's new information indicating the budget axe may have to fall even harder during Hamilton County's worst budget crisis ever.
At least 87 Hamilton County corrections officers, who mainly work at the Queensgate jail which is being closed, are learning this week they'll be unemployed by the end of the year.
They are among some 200 employees of the sheriff's office who will lose their jobs as the county struggles to cut $30 to $40 million from next year's budget.
The Hamilton County Commissioners also learned on Monday some departments may not be including separation costs involved in laying off over 500 county workers.
Commission President Todd Portune made it clear he's worried those separation cots could mean that even more layoffs may actually be needed. Portune told the budget meeting Monday, "There's the message and then there's the reality. The practicality of getting all this done. The real numbers are not necessarily the numbers that are being discussed."
Hamilton County Coroner Dr. O'dell Owens told commissioners he's upset over being told what positions to cut. "It's not the amount that I'm upset about. What angers me? I'm really angry enough to consider suing you, is the fact that I'm an independent elected official. How do you tell me the positions to fire or not to fill," Owens said.
"That's what I resent and that is wrong because you don't know our business(in the coroner's office)," Owens added.
The coroner says he'll work within the $4 million budget allotted for his office next year.
Commissioners pledged that they understand the coroner's responsibilities and if he can live within the budget they give him, he has sole control over how he handles his personnel.
Two more public hearings are scheduled on the Hamilton County Budget before the commission votes on it later in December. The next hearing is scheduled for Wednesday at the Drake Center in Hartwell at 6:30 p.m. Another hearing will be held the following Wednesday at Cincinnati State College in Clifton.
