ONTARIO — Ontario Mayor Kris Knapp presented his first temporary budget appropriations as mayor Wednesday night.
Taking the post at the end of July, Knapp said the 2025 budget reflects capital improvements and economic development.
“I cannot predict what our expenditures will be all the way through 2025,” he said. “We don’t know if we’ll have a truck go off the road, if we’ll have employees leave, if we’ll have new employees. I can only predict and account for what we expect. My goal is to improve our assets and our capital improvements.
“The safety service director and I, Councilman (Dave) Rehfeldt, the auditor — we’ve all spent a great deal of time looking line by line at needs versus wants.”
Council members voted 5-1 to pass the presented $21,145,574 temporary budget. Multiple council members said they would be open to a municipal loan within the next two years to cover equipment or other costs.
“I always say we won’t spend it if we don’t have it — we’re not going to go broke,” said Rehfeldt, chair of the finance committee. “My personal opinion is we could use a loan for repair and replacement, and use the rest of the money for long-term development for the city.”
The 2025 temporary budget is about $400,000 larger than the 2024 budget after additional appropriations in the general, special revenue and enterprise funds last tallied Dec. 18.
The largest temporary appropriations for 2025 include the total general fund, employee pay and benefits, and the special revenue fund that includes parks, economic development and street maintenance. The permanent appropriations for the year are due in March.
Rehfeldt said the city’s revenue has so far “kept up” with budgeted appropriations.
“We’ve increased revenues about $3 million in the five years since I’ve been on council,” he said. “But costs are going up everywhere. So, the reality is, we probably will have to get a loan at some point.”
Knapp said he wants to look at a loan for the 2026 budget. He also noted Wednesday that the police department has six cruisers approaching 150,000 miles and the 2025 budget has allocated $240,000 for the purchase of three new cruisers.
“Remember, these cars are driven very hard every day and need to be replaced more frequently than cars you and I drive,” the mayor said. “Obviosuly, we want to provide quick, reliable services to Ontario citizens when we get calls.”
The 2025 general fund also includes $150,000 budgeted for upgrading emergency services to the MARCS communication system and $18,000 for replacing a police breathalyzer.
The mayor also told council members he has budgeted to replace a 25-year-old plow truck and lift truck in the temporary appropriations passed Wednesday.
“Moving into our sewer and water departments, those are largely self-funded because of bills,” Knapp said. “We do need to replace a number of water and sewer lines next year, and Ohio Public Works funds that we’ve secured will reimburse about half of those total costs of $945,000.
“We also had projects like the Spring Village lane sewer line replacement and our inflow & infiltration sewer contract with Mansfield that we accounted for in 2024 but have not spent, so that will roll over to 2025.”
City officials discuss Hagerman light improvements
Council president Eddie Gallo said city leaders’ goals when Ontario purchased part of the famous Hagerman Christmas light display was to be “good stewards” of the Richland County tradition.
“I know our employees have been working very hard to go through the safety protocols and keep this tradition alive. We knew going into this year it was going to be limited based on where we had electricity and everything, but we’ll keep going until we get it right.”
Service-safety director Adam Gongwer said weather, particularly rain, has caused issues with light bulbs. After this season, the city plans to replace the light strands with outdoor LEDs to better weather-proof the displays.
“They’re interior lights, they weren’t designed for moisture outside,” Gongwer said. “If one bulb goes out, the whole strand goes out.
“The biggest thing we’ve noticed is if it rains, it’s almost guaranteed the lights will go out. Our parks and sewer employees are doing everything they can to get them going through the Christmas season, and we’re working on fixing those problems permanently as soon as we can.”
Also on Wednesday
- The personnel committee met in executive session for 40 minutes to discuss the compensation of a public employee.
- The economic development committee met in executive session for 20 minutes to discuss confidential information regarding marketing plans and specific business strategy from an applicant for economic development assistance.
- Council agreed to enter a Buckeye Energy Brokers gas aggregation program beginning in March 2025 at a price of 66 cents per cubit foot. Residents will have the option to opt out of the aggregate program if they wish, which letters mailed to their homes should instruct them how to do.
- Council members passed an ordinance regarding municipal taxes that bring Ontario’s ordinances in line with the state’s new municipal tax return requirements from House Bill 33, including minors under age 18 being exempt from municipal income tax and extending the municipal filing due date from October to Nov. 15.
- Council read and approved a request to rezone 3052 Mabee Road from residential to business. Arbor Creek Gardens & Floral, located at the former Shafer Landscaping, operates on the grounds.
- Council discussed a proposed zoning amendment to add a link for conditional uses allowed in zoned business districts in the city. Gongwer said at the last meeting that the online city design standards currently have a broken link to zoning codes that haven’t been updated. The ordinance is due for a third reading and vote at the Jan. 8 council meeting.
- Council passed updates to the city’s personnel manual, and discussed and passed a wages and salaries update for non-union employees. This legislation clarified pay for lateral transfers from within the city or another government agency. Those employees will be paid at the wage level one step below the number of years of service at the former agency for six months before they move up in commensurate wages. The ordinance also adds various department supervisors, clerks and office personnel to the list of eligible employees for American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees collective bargaining agreement benefits.
- Council read and approved an ordinance regarding the mayor’s or designees’ ability to spend “de minimis” funds for meals and refreshments for occasional employee appreciation functions, such as holiday parties.