Economic Downturn Hurting Hamilton County Budget

Reported by: Bill Price
Photographed by: Larry Shields
Web produced by: Neil Relyea

The current shaky economic outlook also affects local governments, which are now looking for new ways to cutback.

Officials from the City of Cincinnati and Hamilton County expect that they'll have to do even more with significantly less money this fall – and next year – as the economy continues to weaken.

Already Dayton, Ohio and Cuyahoga County in Cleveland announced this week that they were planning or considering employee buyouts to quickly cut their payroll costs.

Hamilton County isn't ready to go that far yet.

But its commission is already now looking at the budget every few weeks to see what revenue is coming in – and where additional cuts can be made.

Commission President Todd Portune predicts 2009 will be a financially difficult year, where the public will feel eventually feel some deep cutbacks.

Portune says, "We have not ruled out looking at early buyouts, but you can't just do an early buyout unless you know what you have to do and you have enough people do to what you have to do."

"We are beginning the conversation with what is required by the State of Ohio and deemed by law for us to do," said Portune.

Meanwhile, the City of Cincinnati doesn't plan on doing any additional employee buyouts, since it cut 125 employees that way, last year.

But changes are always possible, depending on how tax revenues drop because of the economy.

Portune adds that Ohio has already cut over $30 million out of the county's budget for the Department of Jobs and Family Services for next year.

He says despite that deep cut and others, he still doesn't plan on raising taxes.