WARREN — Trumbull County commissioners are planning to finalize their 2025 budget during an 11 a.m. special meeting Friday.

That is when they expect to learn what percentage of the county’s $14.5 million carryover would be prudent to use in this year’s budget. Some carryover money traditionally has been used by the county to pay for projects that needed to be done but were not planned for in that year’s budget.

Earlier this week, Assistant County Prosecutor Bill Danso told commissioners they could use a portion of this year’s carryover to complete its budget. Commissioners questioned why this information was not previously presented to them and how much of the carryover could be used without endangering the county’s fiscal rating with the state.

Danso attends the county’s budget commission hearings as a representative of the prosecutor’s office. It is that commission that determined the county would have approximately $66.5 million to use in 2025.

This amount includes the $2 million former Trumbull County Clerk of Courts Karen Infante Allen earlier donated to the commissioners from her department’s earnings.

During the commissioners’ Tuesday workshop, Commissioner Rick Hernandez suggested Trumbull County Auditor Martha Yoder should have been there to provide the commissioners her recommendation on the percentage of the carryover that can be safely used. Yoder, who did not attend the workshop, in an email response reminded the commissioners she told them about the carryover and the various funds within it during the county’s Jan. 15 commissioners meeting.

Further, Yoder added, she spoke to Commissioner Denny Malloy on Jan. 14 explaining the numbers.

“He accused me during this conversation of hiding this from him,” Yoder wrote. “I reminded him that he received these financial statements each month over the last two years.”

Yoder said she is against using any of the carryover money during the budgetary process. However, she added, that decision belongs to the commissioners.

The auditor recently threatened to sue the commissioners because the budget numbers they have preliminarily estimated may be provided for her office would force her to lay off up to 40% of her staff.

Yoder’s budget request was $4.2 million, which the commissioners want to trim to about $3 million. The auditor said the proposed budget being considered by the commissioners for her office is $286,000 less than the $3,286,600 that her office brings into the county.

“I cannot continue to adequately provide mandated or critical services at anything under a budget of $3,576,261.89,” she told commissioners last week.

Commissioners on Tuesday removed a resolution from their agenda that would have asked the Trumbull County Prosecutor’s Office to file an application for the appointment of Attorney Jared A. Wagner to provide Yoder legal advice and representation to defend her office’s budget.

Malloy on Tuesday said it was too early to address that resolution because the county had not finalized the 2025 budget, and the final budget may alleviate the need for any court action.

“It is my responsibility to prepare to take court action if we are underfunded,” Yoder noted.

The commissioners over the last several months have been meeting to discuss trimming the budget requests it received to the $66.5 million it is projected to have this year.

Commissioner Tony Bernard recently stated the commissioners are working to come up with a budget that will be in the best interest of the county, even if it is short of what individual department heads believe their needs may be for their departments.

Malloy said if the commissioners complete the final budget on Friday, they will send the numbers to each department head so they can decide how to allocate the funds.

The commissioners are expecting to vote on the 2025 budget during the next regular commissioners meeting on March 19.

The deadline to complete the budget is April 1.