CONNEAUT – Conneaut City Finance Director John Williams and City Manager Nick Sanford recently invited representatives from the Conneaut Police Department and FOP Lodge 51 for a meeting.
Under Sanford’s direction, the city has paused on hiring new personnel, and the administration had a request of the union – give it some time to seek long-term solutions.
That meeting caused some chatter on social media, and Williams wanted to set the record straight with city council, as well as the public, during a regular meeting on Monday, Sept. 14.
“Our meeting with the police department was just to have a pause,” Williams said. “We just wanted to pause the hiring because we’re trying to be proactive and not reactive. We don’t want to end up in a situation where we can no longer fund it or we have to have layoffs. That was the whole point of that exercise. I think it got blown out of proportion.”
Williams took time to update council on the police department’s budget and the problems the city faces regarding those numbers.
“I’ve received some texts of comments that were made on social media,” Williams said. “That part is basically misinformation or a misunderstanding of how departments are funded.”
Total revenue for the police department in 2019 was $932,039. It increased to $1,052,947 in 2025.
Those revenues include two voter-approved levies – a 2-mill levy passed in 2003 and a 3-mill levy passed in 2015. The 2015 levy was passed with significantly higher property valuations than the 2003 levy.
The 2003 levy collected between $353,309 and $377,268 each year between 2019 and 2025. The 2015 levy collected between $561,059 and $618,920 each year between 2019 and 2025.
The department’s expenses in 2019 were $2,543,943. They increased each year to reach $3,408,883 in 2025.
The overall police budget was $1.7 million in 2003. In 2026, that budget sits at $3.4 million.
A police officer with benefits took home an average salary of $55,000 in 2003. That salary is $135,000 in 2026. A family healthcare plan in 2003 cost $11,396. That same plan costs $43,504.
Police vehicles were purchased for $20,000 in 2003. In 2026, those vehicles cost the city $180,000.
“When you look at those expenditures and you look at the amount those expenditures have increased over that time period, you have to look at your revenues,” Williams said. “We have one 2003 levy and we have one 2015 levy. The 2003 levy, last year, took in about $377,000. The 2015 was $589,000. Those levies are frozen in time. They are not inflation adjusted.”
“That’s why I always speak about reduction factors,” Williams continued. “I know council probably gets tired of hearing it, and perhaps, the public, too, but those levies, because they’re frozen in time, do not collect any more than they did at the time that they were passed. You have 30 percent of the police department’s budget frozen as far as revenue is concerned. In the meantime, expenditures are doubling, tripling, at least, and sometimes more than that.”
The city’s general fund subsidized the department with a total of $13,273,137 between 2019 and 2025. The subsidy in 2019 was $1,611,904 and increased each year until it reached $2,355,936 in 2025.
“During that same period, from 2003 to 2025, this is general fund only because 75 percent of the income goes to the general fund. The rest goes to the street department, capital improvement, streetlights, etc.,” Williams said. “During that time, there’s a 28-percent increase in the general fund revenue from income tax. Local government, this is a killer for the city. Seven hundred and forty-one thousand (dollars) in 2003 is what we collected in local government funds. Today, that number is $486,000. That’s a 34-percent decrease. While everything is increasing, local government funding has decreased by $255,000. If we adjusted that for inflation, like they used to do, it would be about $1.4 million in additional funding to the general fund. How do you make up for that?”
“The state has basically shifted the burden back to the cities to support these safety forces, hence we have to rely on levies and other means of generating income,” Williams continued.
The safety forces account for 75 percent of the city’s general fund budget.
Williams told council there were two options for the city. It could increase revenue or decrease expenditures.
“I know this isn’t popular, but I’m going to put it out there,” Williams said. “I just saw a program today on Canton and they have speed cameras. These would be speed cameras on I-90, not within the city, but I-90 only. Based on the financial impact, we’ll probably see at least $1 million-plus annually, but it does have the least impact on Conneaut citizens. It’s no additional tax or anything like that.”
The second option to increase the city’s revenue is to replace the levies to reflect the current valuation.
“Based on the valuation estimated for next year, if you replace the police levy with a 3-mill levy, it would generate about $362,000 in additional money for the police department next year,” Williams said.
Another option is to decrease the income tax credit. The city currently offers a 100-percent credit while other cities offer credits of 50 percent or even 25 percent.
Williams estimates a 50-percent credit would generate approximately $300,000 in additional revenue.
Increasing the city’s income rate from 1.65 percent to 1.8 percent would generate an additional $350,000. Increasing the rate to 2 percent would generate an additional $820,000.
The final option is to increase the tax base. Williams cited Graphite One as an example.
“New jobs, new development or expanding local businesses,” Williams said. “That’s the hardest one. I always say Mr. Sanford works every day,” Williams said. “You can’t allocate private capital, but you can make it conducive for the city to make these businesses aware that we are open for business, that we are looking for development.”
Some of the city’s issues looking at 2027 and beyond include debt service – improvements to the Broad Street underpass, engineering for the Old Main bridge – police vehicles, upgrades to police dispatch, and union negotiations, healthcare costs and capital costs.
