WARREN — By dipping into the county reserves, Trumbull County commissioners now believe the county will be able to finish the year without any layoffs and in good financial shape.

However, commissioners know that 2026 once again may be financially tight because of at least one department being able to balance its current budget with a $200,000 grant it received. Commissioners spent much of 2025 asking its department heads to spend only on necessities and cut back as much as possible because of projected budget shortfalls.

With six more payrolls to go in 2025, commissioners spent Tuesday afternoon determining what will be needed by various departments to complete the year. They are estimating the departments are approximately $1 million short of what they need to complete the year with balanced budgets.

Trumbull County has $13,911,252.29 in cash reserves, which represent about 20% of the county’s total budget. However, counties generally are recommended to maintain between two and three months of their total payroll in reserve to ensure good financial balances throughout the year.

At the beginning of 2025, Trumbull had approximately $15 million in cash reserves.

So far this year, commissioners have approved the use of $4,293,007.60 of its cash reserves to complete various activities, including $2,449,723.56 to supplement the county’s general fund accounts, $500,000 for its portion of multi-county Valley Vision project, provided $800,000 for contingency funding, $238,157 for Children Services Board generators, $200,000 to provide a match for a grant and $24,051 for an engineer’s project, as well as other smaller projects.

Commissioner Denny Malloy reminded his fellow commissioners that so far this year, the county has gained approximately $300,000 more in sales tax revenue than was projected at the beginning of the year.

However, Commissioner Tony Bernard warned there is no guarantee the final three months of the year will continue seeing this level of sales tax revenue. Bernard cautiously warned that 2024 saw decreases in the amount of sales tax revenue coming into the county during the final quarter of the year compared to the first nine months.

County Auditor Martha Yoder said her office does not know how much August sales tax amounts will be because of the two-week sales tax holiday the state allowed in preparation for the new school year.

“We don’t know what the impact will be,” Yoder said.

The state is expected to release the August sales tax numbers later this month.

Yoder, looking at her own office’s budget, reminded the commissioners that earlier this year, she projected she would have to lay off workers this month if the county did not provide her office with additional funds. On Tuesday, Yoder noted needing $143,277.78 to complete the year with no layoffs.

Trumbull County Board of Elections Executive Director Stephanie Penrose noted her department received a $200,000 grant earlier this year for the primary election, which has helped its effort to end the year with no debt.

“We still work to tighten our belts,” she said. “If it wasn’t for that grant, we would be asking for more.”

However, based on the department’s estimates, the elections board will still require approximately $38,000 to complete the year in the financial black.

Edrea Mientkiewicz, assistant director of the BOE, noted the county is not likely to receive this grant again in 2026, so the county will have to provide that amount next year just to maintain the amount that was needed to be spent this year.

“Next year, we will likely have more poll workers, because next year there will be a statewide election,” Mientkiewicz said.

Trumbull County Clerk of Court Randy Law noted his office will need somewhere between $5,000 and $10,000 in additional funds to pay health care costs of employees.

The county’s building and maintenance department was finalizing the amounts needed for payroll and how much they will need to do projects being requested by other county departments.

County Recorder Dawn Zinni, who did not attend Tuesday’s meeting, sent a message to commissioners that her office needed an additional $75,000 to be able to balance the department’s budget. Zinni previously requested $150,000. The commissioners, at the time, provided $75,000.

Shara Taylor of the commissioner’s office noted the commissioners office has negative balances of $178,692 for insurance, $140,000 in utilities, $2,600 to prosecute animal abusers, $144,031 for purchasing equipment, $14,000 for cleaning buildings, and $7,000 for municipal courts.

“We are looking at $334,000 in negatives,” Taylor said.

She recommended the county run its utilities through the end of the year and then pay them, because it is impossible to know how large the amount will be.

The Trumbull County Prosecutor’s office is not projecting needing any additional funds.