WARREN — The Trumbull County Commissioners approved providing Prosecutor Dennis Watkins’ office $500,000 of the $850,000 it requested during Tuesday’s commissioners workshop.

The commissioners initially balked at providing additional funds to the prosecutor’s office at this time, arguing that when the budgets were made in late 2025, this year’s budget was based on spending that departments did last year.

Trumbull County Assistant Prosecutor Bill Danso argued the prosecutor’s budget in 2025 was artificially low because a required position was not filled until the end of the year and it received funds from other available sources.

The commissioners noted they already planned to revisit the budgets of every department sometime this summer. Commissioners said Tuesday they already had other departments, including the Trumbull County Clerk of Courts Office, approaching them about their budgets not being enough for them to complete 2026.

“This is a normal practice that we pass a budget and we take a look at it a couple months down the road when we receive additional funds,” Commissioner Tony Bernard said. “It is nothing new. We did it last year and we will likely do it a couple times this year.”

Bernard emphasized that the commissioners cannot allocate funds that are not available.

“It is against the law,” he said. “When we receive more money, then we can allocate more to various departments and office holders.”

Bernard has argued the state should send back to the counties a higher portion of the sales taxes they are already collecting for them. In this way, Ohio counties can take care of their financial obligations without asking their constituents for more money through tax increases.

In the meantime, Bernard cautioned office holders and department heads to take every action possible to save the county money by streamlining their operations and spending frugally.

Commissioner Rick Hernandez said the commissioners understand there will be times the departments will come to them to revisit their budget requests.

Commissioner Denny Malloy noted this year’s budget is looking to be above projections.

“All forecasts are that we will meet or exceed our budget,” he said. “There is no need for anyone to be fighting over parachutes at this time worrying about the end of the year. All mandated stuff will be taken care of. For the most part, all budget requests should be taken care of reasonably.”

Danso said that while the prosecutor appreciates the commissioners providing $500,000, the office needs the entire $850,000 requested during the commissioner workshop.

“We can live with this for now,” Danso said. “It will extend our runway a little while longer before we figure out where we go next.”