By Kevin Aldridge
The Cincinnati Enquirer

GREEN TWP. - Leaders in one of the state's most populated townships could face some tough cost-cutting decisions in the next several months to keep the general fund from drying up.

Township Clerk Thomas Straus projected that the general fund could run out of money within a year and a half unless a new levy is placed on the ballot soon. Straus said so far this year the township has taken in $1.4 million in tax revenues and spent nearly $2 million.

Straus said the township had $5.3 million in its general fund on Dec. 1. Now there is about $3.9 million - meaning that the township has spent roughly $1.4 million in five months. "That's not good," Straus said. "We're going to have to make some hard choices on a lot of financial issues."

To help trustees make some of those "hard choices," the board appointed 12 residents Monday to a financial review committee to review expenses and revenue forecasts.

The three township trustees and the clerk each appointed three people to the committee.

"We are asking this committee to look at the township's finances and say, 'Yeah, you're in trouble,'" said Trustee Tony Upton.

Green Township has not had an additional tax levy in a decade and the ones in place now are insufficient to meet the townships needs, officials said. The deadline to put a levy on the November ballot is Aug. 19."We're operating on 1984 levy money," Upton said.

Township officials began noticing problems with the general fund around 1999, Upton said. The financial struggles are linked to state cutbacks on funds given to townships and cities, such as estate taxes and inventory taxes - big sources of income for the township.

Trustee Stephen Grote recommended that the committee look hard at how the township could cut expenses in addition to increasing revenues.

Upton said trimming the budget could mean reductions in staffing because salaries account for almost 80 percent of the expenses paid out of the general fund. The township fire department has already cut down on hours by reducing its staffing from 17 firefighters per shift to 15 - a move estimated to save the township $100,000 over 12 months.

"Any direction (this committee) wants to go is fine with me," said Trustee Charles Mitchell. "We've given this committee carte blanche access to any information they want."

The committee will have about three months to complete its assessment and make recommendations to trustees. The group is expected to meet for the first time this week.

E-mail kaldridge@enquirer.com