Lorain Council narrowly passes temporary budget to start 2025

LORAIN — Lorain Council passed a temporary 2025 budget, but it is unclear if it will go into effect Jan. 1. After a lengthy discussion, Council members passed the measure 6-3, but did not pass it with an emergency clause — meaning the budget will not take effect for 30 days. Voting against it were Council members Victoria Kempton, D-2nd Ward, Dan Nutt, D-4th Ward, and Mary Spellacy, D-7th Ward. JoAnne Moon, D-5th Ward and Sylvia DuVall, D-at large, were absent. The measure narrowly passed, as it required a supermajority to do so. The temporary budget runs Jan. 1 to March 31. The budget itself was a point of contention at Monday's meeting, as Nutt, who chairs Council's Finance and Claims Committee, had wanted to pass a permanent budget ahead of the new year. The budget passed Monday only listed expenses, not revenue — another point of contention with Nutt, who questioned Auditor Joseph Koziura on its absence. Koziura, a former councilman and mayor, said temporary budgets are not a bad thing, as it allows the city to have the end balance for 2024 in the books before planning for 2025. There are too few revenue dollars compared to expenditures, Koziura said, and the budget must be balanced. Nutt said Council had yet to see revenue figures, and asked if the city had an idea of what it will be bringing in in the new year. "We know what the revenue side is," Koziura said. "The problem is there's too much demand in the budget by requests." Koziura pointed to the raises given to the city's unions costing millions, and said there will have to be decisions made in the future. "I keep the books and the receipts, it's not my budget," Koziura said, and told Nutt he would send him the revenue side of the budget on Tuesday. When Nutt continued to press the issue, Koziura told him it was "economics 101," and said there are still bills to be paid in 2024. Nutt continued to press the issue of passing a permanent budget rather than a temporary measure, stating he had meetings in the fall indicating as such with the auditor and administration. "All due respect, I'm certainly not trying to throw anybody under the bus but I'm just curious — I've been told we'll have the numbers. … My personal belief is there's no reason we can't get it done unless there's something I don't know about that's happening," he said. "... We've had full-blown budgets sitting on our desk in previous years." Koziura reiterated it was not his job to do the budget, only to establish revenues and laid balancing the budget at the mayor's feet. Antonio Baez, D-6th Ward, said he was opposed to passing the temporary measure, as the city "deserves a well-thought out, sustainable plan, not just a stop gap solution." Mary Springowski, D-at large, stood with the auditor in support of a temporary budget, adding it allows the city to pay its employees and keep the lights on while continuing to discuss its financial situation. She also brought up the "artificial infusion" of American Rescue Plan Act funds coming to an end in the near future, and said the city's departments will have to learn to live within their means. Tony Dimacchia, D-at Large, and Josh Thornsberry, D-8th Ward, also supported the temporary measure, though Dimacchia expressed his distaste for the city's budget process as a whole. "I will say this though, I've been a critic of the budget process since I've been on Council," Dimacchia said. "I echo the frustrations of my colleagues. I'm not blaming the auditor's office, but the only time we see the budget is on this floor." Mayor Jack Bradley said they started budget discussions in September. He said it is hard for him to go to his department heads and ask for their budgets without knowing the revenue — which must be provided by the auditor. Nutt, who had planned budget hearings for the latter half of the week, asked Koziura if both sides of the full budget would be available. Koziura told him he would have "nothing for your meetings this week." "See, this is the problem," Nutt said. "This is why people get out of politics." Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.