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Home > Blogs > Ohio politics > Archives > 2009 > May > 18
Monday, May 18, 2009
State budget shortfall now put at $912 million
With less than a month and a half to go in this fiscal year, Gov. Ted Strickland and legislative leaders have to figure out how to fill a $912 million hole in the state budget.
The budget office on Monday, May 18, released the updated estimate on the shortfall. Two weeks ago, budget and tax officials said the shortfall would be between $600 million and more than $900 million for the year ending June 30.
Strickland has come up with about $150 million to fill the new hole through savings achieved by an executive order and delaying debt payments.
The $948 million “rainy day” fund “continues to be one possible solution to end the fiscal year in balance,” Amanda Wurst, Strickland’s spokeswoman said in an e-mail. Strickland, however, will work in a “collaborative way” with legislators to reach a decision, she said.
The new projection comes with the Senate now considering the proposed budget for the next two years. Strickland had planned to used the “rainy day” fund money in that budget.
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Dayton wins $1 million state cleanup grant
The city of Dayton will receive a $1,004,430 Clean Ohio Revitalization Fund grant for environmental cleanup activities at the Monument Avenue Gateway project site.
The grant was awarded at the Clean Ohio Council meeting on Monday, May 18.
The city plans to demolish on-site structures and clean up the property to make it a “shovel-ready” site for future redevelopment opportunities within the proposed Ballpark District Riverfront Development, a proposed mixed-use urban entertainment district, according to the state Development Department.
The property was the site of the Duro Pump Company from 1940-1977. General Motors operated a process wastewater treatment facility there from 1981-1996, according to the department.
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Former aide to AG Dann enters “not guilty” plea
Tony Gutierrez, a close friend and top aide to Democrat Marc Dann when Dann was attorney general, entered a “not guilty” plea on Monday, May 18, to six felony and four misdemeanor charges.
Gutierrez was expected to post bail and be released, said Jeff Blake, assistant Franklin County prosecutor. The case is expected to be assigned to a judge in a week or so but it’s not possible to say when a trial would start, said Blake.
Gutierrez, from the Youngstown area, entered his plea before Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Timothy Horton shortly after 11 a.m.
Gutierrez did not speak with reporters and earlier in Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien’s office said “no comment” when asked about the case.
The charges allege that Gutierrez ran his private construction company on state time, filed fraudulent workers’ compensation paperwork and illegally converted campaign money for personal use.
They are the first criminal charges from a year-long investigation of the Dann administration by the Ohio Ethics Commission, state Inspector General Tom Charles, the Ohio Highway Patrol and other authorities.
If convicted on all charges, Gutierrez faces up to eight years in prison and $20,000 in fines.
