Sandusky County’s all-Republican commission freezes spending, hiring amid projected $4.3M shortfall

FREMONT, Ohio — Sandusky County has frozen nonessential spending and hiring as officials grapple with a projected $4.3 million budget shortfall, putting new scrutiny on the county’s all-Republican Board of Commissioners weeks before voters decide two commission races.

County officials identified the potential shortfall over the summer and put the spending and hiring freeze into effect Sept. 1, County Administrator Marc Glotzbecker told WTOL. Commissioner Scott Miller said officials have since been meeting with elected officials and department heads to reduce the projected gap, which he said has already been brought down substantially.

But county records reviewed by TiffinOhio.net show financial warning signs were surfacing before the freeze.

At an Aug. 13 commissioners meeting, Sandusky County Department of Job and Family Services officials discussed the significant number of children in county custody, reimbursement eligibility and what the meeting minutes described as the strain those placement costs were putting on the department’s budget.

Two weeks later, County Auditor Jerri Miller appeared before commissioners during their Aug. 27 regular session for a discussion that included transfers to Job and Family Services dating back to 2023 and their effect on the county’s General Fund.

The Aug. 27 meeting minutes describe officials searching for ways to reduce the amount being taken from the General Fund and say those involved understood the “gravity of the situation.”

The minutes state that an “immediate fix to county budgets needs to be found.”

The discussion continued with officials agreeing that they needed to find common ground and be “as fiscally responsible as possible” while addressing problems with the county’s current budget.

An attachment included with the Aug. 27 meeting packet shows one concrete piece of the financial pressure.

A county document titled “JFS payment out of General Fund” shows Sandusky County budgeted $900,000 for those payments in 2026. By Aug. 27, the county had paid $1,304,132.36 — $404,132.36 more than had been budgeted with four months still remaining in the year.

The document does not establish that the JFS overage caused the countywide $4.3 million projected shortfall. County officials have not publicly released a detailed accounting showing how much of the $4.3 million is attributable to Job and Family Services, revenue coming in below projections, other spending, unforeseen expenses or other factors.

Glotzbecker offered a broad explanation to WTOL.

“I think there were a lot of factors that led to it. Some of it may be revenue versus expenses; it may be just shortfalls in the budget, unforeseen expenses. Just a lot of little things kind of built up,” Glotzbecker said.

Three days after the freeze reportedly took effect, Miller, Russ Zimmerman and Justin Smith signed a Sept. 4 public statement saying the county needed to monitor revenues and expenditures to ensure officials were acting as “responsible stewards of the public’s trust.”

The statement described the county’s action only as a “pause on various areas of spending” while officials conducted what they called an “in depth review” of county finances entering the fourth quarter.

It did not disclose that county officials were confronting a projected $4.3 million shortfall.

It also did not say that hiring had been frozen.

The statement was signed by all three commissioners.

Republicans currently hold all three seats on the Sandusky County Board of Commissioners. Miller, Zimmerman and Smith are all Republicans, according to the County Commissioners Association of Ohio.

TiffinOhio.net also reviewed the commissioners’ written meeting records surrounding the freeze. The approximately $4.3 million figure does not appear in the Aug. 25, Aug. 27, Sept. 1, Sept. 3, Sept. 8, Sept. 10 or Sept. 15 regular-session minutes reviewed by this publication.

Those records do show mounting financial concerns before September, including the Aug. 27 discussion over the “gravity” of the county’s budget situation and the need for an “immediate fix.”

The absence of the $4.3 million figure from the written minutes does not establish that commissioners did not discuss it elsewhere or that the estimate had already been calculated at each of those meetings. It leaves unanswered when the projection was developed, when each commissioner learned of it and exactly what produced the figure.

Sandusky County says the written transcribed minutes of commissioners meetings are the permanent record of public sessions. Audio recordings are retained for at least 30 days and can be obtained through a public-records request while they remain available, according to the commissioners’ office.

The commissioners also have direct responsibility for the county budgeting process.

The county describes the Board of Commissioners as Sandusky County’s administrators and says its responsibilities include “the formulation of a multi-million dollar budget” and approval of purchase vouchers. Budget requests involving personnel, supplies and equipment are reviewed annually and “reviewed and managed on a daily basis,” according to the county.

The financial problems are surfacing less than two months before voters decide two seats on the commission.

Smith, who was appointed to the commission in April, is asking voters to keep him in office against Democratic challenger Jill Simpson for the remainder of the term ending Jan. 2, 2029.

Smith joined the commission April 20 and therefore was not a member of the board when the original 2026 budget was adopted. He has, however, served on the commission during the period when county officials say the projected shortfall was identified and when the spending and hiring freeze was imposed.

His campaign is also making fiscal management part of its case to voters.

Smith’s campaign website says his record as commissioner includes “protecting taxpayer dollars through responsible budgeting.” Under a section titled “Fiscal Responsibility,” the campaign promises “balanced budgets, responsible spending, and efficient government that delivers results.”

Smith faces Simpson, a Democrat, in the Nov. 3 general election. TiffinOhio.net previously reported that Smith holds the seat through a Republican Party appointment and is now seeking voter approval to remain in office.

A second commissioner seat is also on the ballot. Republican Richard J. Farmer II faces Democratic challenger Kurtis A. Kuhl for the term beginning Jan. 1, 2027. Zimmerman is leaving the commission at the end of his term.

Farmer is not currently a commissioner and did not administer the 2026 county budget.

The Nov. 3 election will determine whether Republicans maintain complete control of the three-member commission.

Miller told WTOL that county services have not been interrupted and said EMS services remain unaffected.

He said officials have been meeting weekly with department heads and elected officials and estimated that the projected gap had been reduced to “well, well close to half,” although he said the precise reduction was not yet clear.

County officials expect to have a clearer picture of the 2026 budget within the next several weeks as they prepare for 2027.

The spending freeze remains in effect with no announced end date.